Washington threatens to cut off aid if the PA goes to the UN

The Palestinian Authority’s Chief Negotiator, Saeb Erekat, has said that the US Administration has threatened to cut off aid to the PA if the Authority seeks UN recognition as a non-member state. The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) bureau in Washing would also be closed down, alleges Dr. Erekat.

If Palestine is granted such status it would make it an occupied country, instead of “disputed territories” as Israel claims. UN recognition would also confirm further the illegality of Israel’s settlements.

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According to a report in the Saudi Arabian newspaper Okaz, Erekat said that Israel has not left any room for negotiations and has ruined the option of the two-state solution. He said that going to the United Nations General Assembly, after the PA’s failure to obtain member status from the Security Council, would empower the Palestinian position at the international level.

Tel Aviv and Washington oppose Palestine’s full member status application, which was made by PA President Mahmoud Abbas on September 23 last year, on the grounds that this should be the result of a negotiated Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement.

Non member states at the United Nations can also acquire observer status, which is granted to international organisations and the European Union.