Palestinians confident on U.N. vote, but veto looms (Reuters)

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) ? The Palestinian foreign minister said on Tuesday he was confident the U.N. Security Council would vote to recognize Palestinian statehood and urged the United States to reconsider its veto threat, but the White House repeated its determination to block the move.

Diplomats still hope to avert the political crisis looming over this year's meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, but Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said he thought at least nine of the 15 members of the Security Council would endorse the Palestinian move.

"We're working toward it and I think we'll manage it," Malki told reporters.

"We hope the United States will revise its position and be on the side of the majority of nations or countries who want to support the Palestinian right to have self determination and independence," Malki said.

A veto by the United States, one of the five permanent members of the council and a firm ally of Israel, would still block approval even if most other members agree.

But securing the nine votes necessary to claim a Security Council majority would allow the Palestinians to highlight the U.S. veto as an obstacle, increasing the diplomatic risks for Washington during a period of unprecedented political turmoil in the Middle East.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians must be resolved or risk poisoning the "Arab Spring" evolution to democracy.

NO PROGRESS YET

President Barack Obama is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday on the sidelines of the General Assembly meeting.

White House officials say Obama has no meeting planned with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has vowed to hand in the statehood application on Friday, but note that the schedule may still change.

Highlighting the political minefield Obama faces on the issue, Republican presidential challenger Rick Perry on Tuesday blasted the administration over its Middle East policy, saying U.S. peace efforts "encouraged the Palestinians to shun direct talks.

In the West Bank, clashes broke out as angry Jewish settlers protested the Palestinian plans -- another sign of growing tensions in the territory that some fear could spin dangerously out of control.

Senior diplomats from the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations -- the Quartet of Middle East mediators -- are meeting throughout the week in hopes of a last-minute breakthrough.

The Quartet has for months been trying to put together guidelines for future peace talks, so far without result. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Tuesday there had been no progress.

Even if the Palestinians file their Security Council application on Friday, an immediate vote is unlikely -- which could allow more time for diplomacy aimed at restarting peace talks, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said.

"There's a procedure for dealing with such requests and it can take a few days or weeks more, which means there is room for other initiatives," Juppe told Europe 1 radio.

"We hope to find a way of convincing all involved to get back around the negotiating table, and in a serious fashion."

IMPASSE OVER TALKS

Israel has called for renewed direct talks with the Palestinians and says the U.N. move is aimed at de-legitimizing the Jewish state. The Palestinians say their U.N. bid will open the door to new peace talks among two equal sovereign states.

Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed a year ago after Israel refused to extend a moratorium on new settlements in areas the Palestinians want for a future state.

Israel has occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since the 1967 war, and the two sides are divided on borders, the status of Jerusalem, the future of Palestinian refugees and whether Israel should be acknowledged as a Jewish state.

The Palestinians want the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for their future state, with East Jerusalem as their capital.

The White House on Tuesday repeated its intention to torpedo any Palestinian move at the Security Council, saying Obama would use his speech to the General Assembly on Wednesday to lay out his view that Palestinian statehood can only be achieved through direct negotiations with Israel.

"We will oppose a Palestinian move to have a state through the Security Council and if need be would veto that effort," White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters. "That continues to be the state of play."

The Palestinians may also ask the U.N. General Assembly to upgrade them from an "entity" to a "non-member state" -- a step they say would be backed by at least 126 of the assembly's 193 members and give further legitimacy to their claim.

The Palestinian decision to go to the United Nations has raised fears of new Arab anger against the United States, turning back the Obama administration's effort to harness the "Arab Spring" uprisings to forge a new set of relationships.

"A U.S. veto ... will be seen by the region as once again a double-standard policy of selectively standing by certain people in the region yearning for freedom, but not others," said Marwan Muasher, a former Jordanian foreign minister and now vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment.

Netanyahu's government is also navigating uncertainly through the new political landscape, and has seen tensions rise both with the Palestinians and with neighbors such as Egypt and Turkey.

The Palestinians, for their part, could see financing for their struggling government drop if donors such as the United States withhold funds, as some U.S. lawmakers have proposed.

(Additional reporting by Lou Charbonneau, Susan Cornwell, Tom Perry, Edith Honan, Matt Spetalnick and Alistair Lyon; writing by Andrew Quinn; editing by Will Dunham and Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110920/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_un

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