Abbas: If Security Council bid fails, we may end security cooperation with Israel

PA president says that he will pursue membership at the International Criminal Court if the US vetoes his resolution that would set a timetable for Israeli withdrawal from West Bank.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting with Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah (photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting with Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas vowed Tuesday to join the International Criminal Court at the Hague in the event that his efforts at the UN Security Council to set a timetable forcing the withdrawal of Israel to the pre-1967 lines should fail.
The Bethlehem-based Ma'an News Agency quoted Abbas as telling reporters in Ramallah: "We started work on the resolution to get a state on the '67 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital which we will submit to the Security Council."
He said under the plan, "the occupation would be ended in two or three years."
Abbas said he would submit the plan, mandating an Israeli withdrawal within a defined time frame, in two to three weeks to the UN Security Council. Should the US choose to veto the resolution, Abbas said he would then go the ICC route, which could potentially lead to a war crimes probe against Israel, and even against the Palestinians themselves.
Abbas also said the Palestinian Authority would reconsider relations with Israel, including security coordination, should the bid fail.
The PA president added however, that he would not allow for the protest against Israel to turn violent. "I will not allow the firing of a single bullet," he said.
Abbas described relations with the US as tense after the Obama administration criticized the PA president's speech to the UN General Assembly last week.
He said that, despite the tension, he would not back down from the possible confrontation with the US that his Security Council bid could cause.
Abbas said during his UN General Assembly address on Friday that he saw no point in continuing peace talks with Israel without a firm timetable for Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank in place.
The PA president drew the ire of Israel by accusing the Jewish state of committing "genocide" against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

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US State Department spokeswoman Jan Psaki called Abbas's speech counterproductive and provocative.


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