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Abbas' UN Gambit Will Not Bring Peace

(Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University) Gilead Sher and Amos Yadlin - On November 29, the PLO under PA President Mahmoud Abbas is likely to request a UN vote on international recognition of Palestine as a "non-member state," and is expected to win a majority. However, the likelihood that the Palestinian move may even slightly promote a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is slim to none. Peace and security are achieved through negotiations, hard work, painful compromises, and constructive measures - not via UN votes. Upgrading the PA's UN status may pave the way for its participation in international tribunals, the most problematic of which is the International Criminal Court (ICC). However, Palestinian acceptance at the ICC would make it possible for Abbas and the PA to be held legally accountable at The Hague for the war crimes of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups. International law does not generally recognize a state's' "right" to represent minority groups that do not reside within its sovereign territory. The PA's current status as a UN "entity" allows for its representation of the Palestinian diaspora. Elevating the PLO's status to a nonmember state will considerably hamper the PA's ability to portray itself as the legitimate representative of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants who are neither citizens nor permanent residents. Moreover, UN recognition of a Palestinian state may obviate the need for the existence of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and lead to the demand to cancel its mandate. Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin is Director of INSS, where Gilead Sher is a Senior Research Fellow.
2012-11-28 00:00:00
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