JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he will stop dealing with the Israeli government if the U.N. Security Council does not pass the Palestinian state draft resolution.
“In case of failure, we will no more deal with the Israeli government, which will then be obliged to assume its responsibilities as an occupier,” Abbas told reporters Tuesday in Algiers, the Algerian Press Service reported.
“We are determined to recover the rights of our people, including the right to return and the release of all the Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails. We will not succumb to the policy of the Israeli hegemony and oppression.”
Abbas called the Palestinian cause “both the key of peace and war in the Middle East and the very core of the preservation of peace and security.”
Also Tuesday, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat in Moscow called on the United States not to use its veto on the resolution. He said the Palestinians would sign at least 16 international charters, including joining the International Criminal Court, if the resolution is not passed, Reuters reported.
While U.S. officials have said the draft as it was submitted by Jordan last week is not acceptable, the United States has not committed on whether or not it will use its veto if the resolution garners enough votes to pass.
