Palestinian leaders vote to delay declaration of independent state

JERUSALEM, April 29 (JTA) — PLO leaders last Wednesday voted to delay unilaterally declaring a Palestinian state amid heavy international pressure to put off the move. On the third day of deliberations in Gaza, the Palestinian Central Council, the mini-Parliament of the PLO, overwhelmingly voted to put off the declaration until after Israel’s elections. At the same time, it arranged for subcommittees to work on various aspects of statehood, including drawing up a draft constitution. Salim Za’anoun, chairman of the council, said the body would reconvene at the beginning of June. The U.S. State Department welcomed the decision. “We have said that we think it is very important for neither the Palestinians, nor the Israelis, to pursue unilateral acts or declarations,” State Department James Rubin said. “The only realistic way for the Palestinians to achieve their aspirations is through a negotiated outcome. Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat had long pledged to declare an independent state on May 4, 1999, the date interim peace accords expire under the terms of the Oslo accords, if no final-status arrangement with Israel was concluded by then. The United States, Europe and Arab states had strongly urged Arafat to delay a declaration because it could harm efforts to resume peace negotiations that have been faltering since December. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had suspended implementation of the U.S.-brokered Wye memorandum, including all further troop redeployments, claiming the Palestinians were violating the accords. Netanyahu had warned the Palestinians that Israel would respond to a statehood declaration by annexing parts of the West Bank.