Free Republic

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has initiated a last-ditch diplomatic campaign to avert a confrontation this month over a plan by Palestinians to seek recognition as a state at the United Nations, but it may already be too late, according to senior American officials and foreign diplomats. The administration has circulated a proposal for renewed peace talks with the Israelis in the hopes of persuading the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to abandon the bid for recognition at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly beginning Sept. 20. The administration has made it clear to Mr....

ABSTRACT The United States has begun a diplomatic campaign to prevent a confrontation this month over a Palestinian plan to seek recognition as a state at the United Nations. FULL TEXT.....

In a statement that raises new questions, the United States Consulate in Jerusalem is denying comments from their representative in which he warned the US would veto a Palestinian statehood move at the United Nations and that financial aid would be cut by Congress if the Palestinians took that step. The denial comes after the office of key Palestinian official Saeb Erekat claimed US Consul General Daniel Rubinstein made just such a warning during a meeting last week. While the American interest in keeping bilateral diplomacy secret and vague in public is nothing new, the denial contrasts with the general...