JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Palestinians will postpone sending a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council calling on the international body to set a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank.
The suspension will last until after the end of Iran nuclear talks, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told the Palestinian Maan news agency on Monday. The P.A. later denied that a postponement is planned.
The talks, which have required most of the attention of the council, were expected to be extended past their Monday deadline through at least the next month.
The P.A. also is working to gain the support of nine members to ensure that the measure passes the Security Council. The United States is expected to veto such a resolution.
The draft resolution calls for the “full withdrawal of Israel, the occupying power, from all of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, as rapidly as possible and to be fully completed within a specified time-frame not to exceed November 2016,” according to the AFP news agency, which obtained a copy of the draft.
In the last month, the parliaments of several major European countries have voted in nonbinding resolutions to recognize a state of Palestine. Among the nations are Sweden, Britain and Spain. France will hold a similar vote at the end of the week.
Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian Authority’s chief negotiator, on Monday told the Israeli daily Haaretz that no decision had been made on postponing the Security Council draft resolution bid and that it was still slated to be submitted at the end of the month.
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