State Department says US will not support Palestinian UN resolution

Washington would not support a Palestinian resolution the US State Department announced.

The resolution submitted to the UN Security Council on Wednesday was seeking a final settlement deal with Israel in 12 months and an Israeli withdrawal in late 2017.

Press TV reports: The draft resolution is “not something that we would support,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Thursday.

“We think others feel the same and we are calling for further consultations. The Palestinians understand that,” she added.

In the draft, the Palestinians seek a 12-month deadline to reach a final deal with Israel and set late 2017 as the date for Israeli forces complete withdrawal from the occupied territories.

Psaki also noted that her country “wouldn’t support any action that would prejudge the outcome of the negotiations or would set a specific deadline for withdrawal of security forces.”

Meanwhile, the European Parliament on Wednesday approved a resolution supporting the formation of an independent Palestinian state.

The recognition vote followed similar votes by some European countries’ legislatures, including France, Britain, Spain and Portugal that call on their respective governments to recognize Palestinian statehood.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on all world countries to recognize Palestine as an independent state after the European Parliament voted in favor of such a move.

The Palestinian leader said that Palestinians are open to further talks on possible changes to the proposed resolution.

On Thursday, Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz described the resolution as an “act of war.”

“The Palestinians made sure to remove any mention of Israel’s status as a Jewish state from the draft, which means this is not an act of peace, it’s an act of war,” he said.