On Thursday, a week after the Gaza cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank, is scheduled to ask the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade the Palestinian status to nonmember observer state.
The 193-member body is expected to approve the application. That support has grown since the Gaza fighting, with France and other European nations declaring their backing for the Palestinian bid — in part as a way to bolster the more moderate Palestinian forces, which recognize Israel’s right to exist and seek a two-state solution.
But passage of the resolution — which would allow the Palestinians to try to join the International Criminal Court, where they might be able to bring cases against Israel — would not get the Palestinians any closer to statehood. A negotiated deal with Israel is the only way to ensure creation of a viable Palestinian state and guarantee Israel’s security.
It is not surprising that the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has pushed ahead with the one diplomatic move he has left. Peace negotiations have been at an impasse since 2008; the two-state solution seems farther away than ever. His stature among some Palestinians was further diminished after the Gaza fighting. He sat on the sidelines as Israel negotiated a cease-fire with Hamas, even as Arab states like Egypt, Qatar and Turkey backed Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel and Europe.
But even if the Palestinians win the vote, the price may be high. After membership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was granted last year, Israel withheld millions of dollars in tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority — which is in financial distress — and the United States halted financing to Unesco and withheld millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinians.
Earlier this month, Israel warned that if the resolution passed, it could cancel the 1993 Oslo accords, oust President Abbas and dismantle the Palestinian Authority. Some in Congress have also threatened more sanctions. Israel has since toned down the threats, but it should drop them altogether, as should Congress. It makes no sense to punish the one Palestinian institution that has committed to a peaceful solution.
The Obama administration has spent political capital in a failed effort to pressure countries to oppose the resolution. It now needs to put its energies into forging commitments to restart peace talks.
Britain has urged the Palestinians to give assurances that they would return to negotiations with Israel without preconditions; Mr. Abbas would be wise to do so. That might give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel a reason to follow suit.
The vote on Thursday is timed to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the General Assembly resolution that called for the division of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. It’s long past time begin a serious new effort at a negotiated two-state solution.
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