Palestinians push UN bid for statehood

The Palestinians pressed ahead today with a UN draft resolution that would set a course toward statehood, ratcheting up pressure on the United States and Israel to join a renewed peace effort.
The Palestinian move at the United Nations came as the European parliament overwhelmingly backed recognition of a Palestinian state, the latest assembly in Europe to adopt a motion to that end.
Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said the draft would be submitted to the Security Council after the Palestinians agreed with France on a merged text.
Arab ambassadors were set to meet at the United Nations at 1630 GMT to endorse the text and formally decide on whether Jordan, a Security Council member, will submit the measure.

An Arab-backed draft of the text had previously set a deadline of November 2016 for Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories, but France has pushed for a softer resolution that would instead set a timeframe for negotiations on a final settlement.
The new text would set a two-year deadline for wrapping up negotiations on a final agreement that would provide for a new Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the shared capital.

No firm deadline on an ending the Israeli occupation would be included but the resolution would call for a phased withdrawal of Israeli security forces over an agreed transition period.

"The draft that will be presented today is the French draft based on Palestinian observations and decisions," Malki told AFP.
"It will be presented to the Security Council as a blueprint, and could be put to a vote 24 hours after that," he added.
UN diplomats however cautioned that action may not be imminent.
"We are having a meeting at 11:30 with the Arab Group to discuss and we will see how it goes," Jordan's UN Ambassador Dina Kawar told reporters.
France was also planning to meet with Jordan and the United States later in the day.