Palestine Submits Bid UN Membership, and Peace Talk are Proposed

A Palestinian bid for membership in the United Nations was put on hold Friday when Western countries agreed on a proposal for restarting direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis, with the goal of achieving a comprehensive settlement between the two sides by the end of next year.

The agreement, which, if accepted by the Israelis and Palestinians, could see a return of direct negotiations in less than a month, came hours after Palestinians filed papers formally requesting U.N. membership. The move was fiercely opposed by Israel and viewed warily by the US and Europe, who fears it, could trigger unrest and set back chances for peace in the region.

The United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, hammered out the proposal for talks after several days of marathon negotiations that took on increasing urgency with news of violent clashes Friday in West Bank cities.

The proposal did not preempt the Palestinians’ statehood bid, which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced to cheers and whistles in the UN General Assembly’s main hall. However, US and UN officials said Abbas’s application was unlikely to come before the Security Council for a vote if peace talks were underway and making progress.

Despite the Israeli position being much more unpopular, particularly with developing nations, many see that Palestinian officials may have little recourse but to sit down at the peace talks particularly due to their violent past transgressions against Israel.

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AJP