The long-awaited plan is expected to be released after Israeli elections, scheduled for April 9. In Streetwise Hebrew for the Times of Israel Community, each month we learn several colloquial Hebrew phrases around a common theme.
These are bite-size audio Hebrew classes that we think you'll really enjoy. This month, we're learning phrases on the topic of strength and power. Ready to get tough with us? He reminded the delegates of the hope he expressed while addressing the assembly last year. With little progress in the past year towards achieving an agreement, Obama dealt with how to move forward. He did not mention the UN membership issue. But he did observe that "the deadlock will only be broken when each side learns to stand in each other's shoes.
The Obama administration had already said it would veto the impending request for Palestinian membership. It views the request as "counter-productive," because "such a move in the UN could raise tensions in the region," State Department spokesman Mark Toner explained at a press briefing on Sept. He added that it will not help to get the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations restarted.
Canada declared its opposition to Palestinian membership in July and on Sept. On Sept. Hamas has banned public demonstrations supporting UN membership, making it more difficult to gauge popular sentiment in Gaza. In his speech on Sept.
If the Security Council vote takes place quickly but the Palestinian bid fails, there is widespread speculation the Palestinians will then ask the General Assembly to upgrade their status to non-member state observer. They could also make such a move while the council is deliberating. A vote on upgrading their status would require only a simple majority to pass, and the Palestinians appear to have the votes to win. There is also the possibility that both sides will agree to get back to the bargaining table.
A push is underway to make that happen. This FAQ has the background on the current developments. Social Sharing. These included the rights to participate in general debate at the start of the General Assembly and to co-sponsor resolutions, giving the delegation a unique status, somewhere between observer and member. Opinion: Palestinian move at U.
The new recognition the Palestinians obtained is a formal upgrade from observer entity that would implicitly recognize Palestinian statehood. It places the Palestinians in the same category as the Vatican. Switzerland was also a non-member observer state for more than 50 years until Haven't the Palestinians tried this before without success? In , the Palestinians launched a bid for recognition as a full member of the U. But the effort stalled when it became apparent that the bid was not going to receive the requisite nine of 15 Security Council votes, and the U.
However, unlike a bid for full membership, recognition as a non-member state only requires winning a majority vote among the members of the General Assembly. There is no threat of a Security Council veto. According to the PLO, more than of the U. The Palestinians have said they have not abandoned their application to become a full U. Opinion: Why U. The statehood bid was driven by the Palestinian Authority , whose president, Mahmoud Abbas, is also chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
The Palestinian Authority controls the West Bank, one of two Palestinian territories, but has virtually no sway in Gaza, run by Hamas, Fatah's Islamist rivals who were recently locked in conflict with Israel. The Palestinian Authority -- which was not a party to the recent conflict with Israel -- has come to be widely viewed as sidelined by Hamas in terms of the effectiveness of its recent strategies in dealing with Israel.
Hamas has also criticized Abbas's previous efforts to pursue Palestinian statehood at the U. The statehood bid is thought to have emerged as a strategy after the lack of progress in peace talks, which stalled in over disagreements on the issue of Israeli West Bank settlements.
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