WASHINGTON — The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday called the Palestinian push for recognition by the world body “an unwise and diversionary gambit.”
“There is no shortcut to statehood,” said Susan Rice, who added that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas should back away from his push for recognition by the U.N.
Rice acknowledged in an interview on CBS’s “The Early Show” that the U.S. believes Abbas will proceed with his plan, nevertheless.
But in an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Wednesday, the ambassador said: “It won’t succeed. Because in the Security Council, you need nine affirmative votes and no vetoes by a permanent member. And we don’t know for sure what the vote count will be but we know that they’re not going to get through the Security Council.”
Rice said that Israel and the Palestinians must resolve the problem at the bargaining table, arguing that lingering differences exist between the two sides over security, borders, the capital city and the Palestinian refugees.
And she said the Obama administration is concerned about a “great gap between the expectations of the Palestinian people and the reality” of the situation.
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