TEL AVIV // Israel's prime minister promised yesterday to work closely with the United States to scupper the Palestinians' bid for UN recognition of their statehood.
Benjamin Netanyahu's threat came just two days after Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the western-backed Palestinian Authority, announced that despite deep US and Israeli opposition, he will apply for full membership at the Security Council.
According to some media reports, Mr Abbas may submit as soon as today the statehood resolution to Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, who would then pass it to the Security Council.
The Palestinian plan has spurred controversy in recent months as it encountered aggressive diplomatic lobbying by Mr Netanyahu, who has argued that it would further stall the already deadlocked peace talks. The US, Israel's most powerful ally, also opposes the Palestinian move and has said it will veto the statehood bid should it come up for a vote in the 15-member Security Council.
It remains unclear whether the vote will take place this week or be delayed amid the diplomatic efforts to block it.
Yesterday's remarks by Mr Netanyahu, made to government ministers before the weekly cabinet meeting, suggest the right-wing Israeli prime minister will intensively battle any such statehood recognition when he travels to New York on Tuesday.
Mr Metanyahu said: "The activity of the US, which is deeply cooperating with us, as well as the activity of other governments with which we are co-operating, will result in a failure of this attempt."
The flurry of diplomatic meetings expected to take place in New York over the Palestinian plan, including one between Mr Netanyahu and Barack Obama, the US president, on Wednesday, comes just days before the speeches on Friday by Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas at the UN General Assembly.
The US, seeking to avoid vetoing the Palestinian proposal, has made a last-minute effort in recent weeks to dissuade the Palestinians from pursuing full UN membership.
Late last week, the White House sent two US envoys to the Middle East, David Hale and Dennis Ross, to meet the Palestinian leadership and propose alternatives.
Israeli media have reported that the US proposals included resuming peace talks with Israel and setting a one-year deadline for achieving a pact, while another offer called for pressing Israel to accept the pre-1967 borders as a starting point for negotiations over the frontiers of a future Palestinian state.
Mr Netanyahu has so far rejected that idea, saying the borders of Israel before the 1967 Middle East War, in which it occupied territories including the West Bank and Gaza Strip, were indefensible.
On Friday, Mr Abbas condemned the US attempts as insufficient.
The next day, Nabil Shaath, a top Palestinian official, suggested that blocking the quest for UN recognition could prompt protests in the West Bank.
He said the wave of massive pro-democracy demonstrations across the Arab world should prompt the US to reconsider its planned veto.
Mr Shaath also suggested that the Palestinian leadership was open to proposals by saying that Mr Abbas "left a door open at the end".
Indeed, yesterday, representatives of the so-called Middle East Quartet - made up of the US, European Union, UN and Russia - were due to meet in New York to discuss how to avoid a confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians this week.
The Palestinian bid is also stirring up tensions between the secular Fatah movement, which is headed by Mr Abbas and holds sway in the West Bank, and the Islamic Hamas group, which rules Gaza. Yesterday, Khalil Al Hayya, a Hamas official in Gaza, said that Mr Abbas's plan to ask for UN recognition of a state within the pre-1967 borders, which means the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as the capital, did not go far enough, according to Agence France-Presse.
Mr Al Hayya said the UN should recognise a Palestinian state on all of historical Palestine, including what is now Israel.
Hamas in April signed a reconciliation deal with Fatah, although the pact has not yet been implemented.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
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She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Read more about the coronavirus
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
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The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
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Huddersfield Town permanent signings:
- Steve Mounie (striker): signed from Montpellier for £11 million
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