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Why Europe Should Reject the Palestinian UN Statehood Bid

(Foreign Policy) Amos Yadlin and Robert Satloff - A UN statement recognizing Palestine within certain borders will make future progress toward a negotiated settlement with Israel virtually impossible. With UN approval of the shape of their state and, most likely, of "East Jerusalem" as its capital, future Palestinian leaders will find it nearly impossible to compromise on these key issues, even if they want to. Moreover, the UN drive for statehood recognition violates the core Palestinian vow in the Oslo Accords to resolve the conflict with Israel solely through bilateral negotiations. Supporting the UN route effectively encourages a culture of reneging on agreements. As April's International Monetary Fund report on Palestinian state-building makes clear, not only was virtually every aspect of the impressive progress achieved by the Palestinian Authority made possible by Israel, but future progress will require even more Israeli cooperation. Prospects for such cooperation are likely to vanish if the Palestinians opt instead to go it alone. Amos Yadlin, former head of Israeli defense intelligence, is the Kay fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Robert Satloff is the Institute's executive director.
2011-09-23 00:00:00
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