Obama opposes Palestinian UN effort

By Anne Walters and Silvia Ayuso Sep 12, 2011, 23:02 GMT

Washington - US President Barack Obama said Monday that if the Palestinians try to achieve statehood in the UN Security Council, the US will oppose the proposal.

'If this came to the Security Council we would object very strongly, precisely because we think it would be counterproductive, we don't think that it would actually lead to the outcome that we want, which is a two state solution,' he told the Spanish service of the German Press Agency dpa.

Last week, the State Department said the US would veto a resolution for Palestinian statehood in the council, but Obama had yet to comment directly on the matter.

'What we've said is that going to the UN is a distraction, does not solve the problem,' he said in a wide-ranging interview with dpa and other international media that publish in Spanish. 'This issue is only gonna be resolved by Israelis and Palestinians agreeing to something.'

However, it now looks likely that the Palestinians will try to push for a vote in the broader UN General Assembly, where success seems more likely and the US does not wield as much control.

'At the General Assembly level, we have less influence over the process, we will continue to talk with all parties concerned to try to make sure that any action that takes place in New York can lead to the parties getting back to the negotiating table as opposed to pushing them further apart,' Obama said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said last week that he intends to submit the Palestinian's application for UN membership once he arrives in New York on September 19 for the General Assembly session.

The Palestinian leader has said he is taking this path because the lack of any discernible peace talks with Israel has left the Palestinians no option but to try and achieve their aims through other routes.

Israel opposes the Palestinian UN bid, saying a Palestinian state can only come into being as the result of negotiations between the parties.

Israeli officials believe that if the Palestinians achieve their objective through the UN, they will be less inclined to compromise on Israeli demands, such as security arrangements once a Palestinian state is agreed on.

However, the Palestinian Authority insists their UN bid does not counter any willingness to negotiate, and says their move is aimed at achieving a just peace.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke off in September last year, after Israel refused Palestinian demands to extend a partial, limited 10-month freeze on construction at its West Bank settlements.

Palestinians have insisted that no new talks can take place until a new freeze is implemented, including Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

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