(Council on Foreign Relations) Robert M. Danin - According to Mahmoud Abbas, according Palestine "non-member observer state status" in the UN is intended to enhance the Palestinians' leverage in future negotiations with Israel. Yet rather than encourage such talks, his UN gambit is more likely to delay, if not undermine, the prospects for negotiations. President Obama has urged the Palestinians for over a year not to push a vote at the UN. Abbas clearly and inauspiciously rebuffed him in a gesture that will no doubt figure into Obama's calculations for his upcoming Middle East policies. The writer is a Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
2012-11-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive