White House �on board� Palestinian unilateral statehood threat

WorldNet Daily (Link) - Aaron Klein (February 23, 2010)

Recent meetings between the Obama administration and the Palestinian Authority revealed the White House is on board a Palestinian threat to unilaterally ask the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state outside of negotiations with Israel, a senior PA negotiator told WND.

The negotiator further claimed the entire European Union leadership has backed the plot.

WND previously reported the PA�s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, headed a team that held a series of meetings in December with members of the Obama administration in Washington to discuss the U.S. response should the Palestinians bring to the U.N. Security Council a resolution to unilaterally create a Palestinian state.

�The U.S. position is less restrained than it appears in the media,� a PA official told WND in December, referring to media claims the U.S. would veto any such resolution.

Yesterday, a senior PA negotiator stated the Obama administration still has not threatened to veto the conceptual unilateral resolution and even indicated the U.S. would support such a resolution.

�The U.S. prefers a negotiated settlement but indicated they would back the resolution if talks don�t progress,� the PA negotiator said.

The official also said the U.S. supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, meaning in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem.

In a recent WND interview, Ahmed Qurei, former PA prime minister and member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee, said the PA �reached an understanding with important elements within the (Obama) administration� to possibly bring the resolution to the U.N. Security Council.

Asked to which �elements� he was referring, Qurei would only say they were from the Obama administration.

A top PA negotiator, speaking on condition of anonymity, named the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, and National Security Council member Samantha Power as among the Obama administration officials who were involved with the Palestinians� U.N. threat.

�The U.S. told us that they prefer a negotiated settlement with Israel, but if we (Palestinians) insist on a resolution, the Americans will not necessarily reject it,� the PA negotiator said.

�The U.S. has a history of never before vetoing any U.N. move to create a new state,� the negotiator pointed out.