Why Not UN Observer Status for Palestine

The Palestinian request for nation status at the United Nations is the major story in the news tonight. It seems that the Quartet (The United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations) are meeting frantically with Palestinian President Abbas and his diplomats and with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in a last ditch effort to prevent the crisis that will occur if Palestine insists on going forward with its demand for UN recognition.

Former President Clinton said on CNN tonight that the United States will use its veto, if necessary, to prevent Palestine from being recognized as a nation without negotiating a peace treaty with Israel. He said that the other Middle East governments understand that the veto is the only means to ensure that peace talks are held and that, while there may be regional repercussions, they will not be as serious as some suggest.

Clinton also said that what the US must do, if it uses its veto, is to immediately take the offensive and bring Israel to the table with Abbas and his Palestinian group. Clinton said that Abbas is perceived in the Middle East as the best Palestinian president ever and that Israel should negotiate with him because he will bring reasonableness, good management and Palestinian stability to the table.

Meanwhile, British Foreign Minister William Hague said on the Charlie Rose show that he believes the current Israeli government is not bringing a complete enough proposal to Abbas and that this is preventing negotiations from getting underway.  

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is talking to all sides at the UN in hopes of preventing the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation from “poisoning” the march toward democracy in Arab countries.

The one idea that, although mentioned last week, has not been offered in the past several days is that Palestine be admitted to the General Assembly as an observer.  This could be done without prior Security Council approval, thus avoiding the US veto that would be used if Palestine asks for the full recognition that must be agreed to by the Security Council before going to the floor of the General Assembly. Observer status would meet both Palestine and Israel halfway and it would not interfere with talks meant to bring about peace between Israel and Palestine and fix borders for the two countries.