The United States called for caution on Tuesday as Palestinians seek to push their hopes for statehood to the top of the UN agenda ahead of Israeli elections. Top US diplomat John Kerry said nothing should be allowed to get in the way of preparations for the March polls, as the Palestinians threaten to submit a draft text Wednesday to the UN Security Council.
Speaking to reporters just before he met chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat in London, Kerry said it was "imperative" to help lower tensions. "Many of us share a deep sense of urgency about this," the US secretary of state told a press conference during a whirlwind trip to Europe. "But we're also very mindful that we have to carefully calibrate any steps that are taken for this difficult moment in the region," he said.
Amid reports of competing Arab-backed and French-led resolutions, Kerry has been meeting his European and Russian counterparts as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to gauge support for the Palestinian UN push. The Palestinians have said they will submit an Arab-backed draft text to the UN as early as Wednesday which would call for a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian lands within two years.
France is putting together a more nuanced version setting a two-year timetable for concluding a peace treaty, without mentioning the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Asked what kind of resolution the US might be able to support at the UN, Kerry insisted the US administration has "made no determinations... about language, approaches, specific resolutions, any of that". He later met Erakat and Arab League secretary general Nabil al-Arabi to discuss options. Traditionally the US has used its power of veto at the UN Security Council to shoot down what it sees as moves against its close ally, Israel.
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