Hammering Away

President Barack Obama will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday to urge him to drop plans to ask the U.N. Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state despite U.S. and Israeli objections.

  TPM

Because who could imagine that someone would be so obtuse as to do something that was objected to by the U.S. and Israel?

But first, he meets with Netanyahu earlier in the day, so they can get their strong-arm strategy down pat.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said he thought at least nine of the 15 members of the Security Council would back the Palestinian bid and urged the United States to get out of the way.

[...]

The Obama administration and Israel both say that only direct peace talks can lead to peace with the Palestinians, who in turn say almost two decades of fruitless negotiation has left them no choice but to turn to the United Nations.

And I wish them good luck. By Minister al Malki’s reckoning, I’d say there are at least 4 members of the Security Council who have been successfully pressured not to vote in favor of Palestinian statehood.

Even if the Palestinians file their Security Council application on Friday, an immediate vote is unlikely. This may allow more time for diplomacy aimed at restarting peace talks, said French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe.

Diplomacy. Is that what we’re calling it now?

International efforts to forestall a showdown in the UN security council over the declaration of a Palestinian state are solidifying around a plan for the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, to submit a request for recognition but for a vote on the issue to be put on hold while a new round of peace talks is launched.

  UK Guardian

And by “international efforts” we mean the U.S. and Israel.

The US president Barack Obama is expected to meet the Palestinian leader at the UN on Wednesday as Abbas comes under intense pressure from the US and Europe to compromise.

Diplomats said the proposed compromise would see Abbas submit his letter to the security council, which would then defer action. In parallel, the Quartet [UN, EU, US and Russia] would issue the framework for renewed negotiations that would include a timeline for the birth of a Palestinian state.

Shameful.

The deal is intended to permit Abbas to follow through on his commitment to Palestinians to seek recognition for an independent state at the security council, a pledge he could not abandon entirely without considerable damage to his already battered leadership.

What? Palestinians are as easily led by the nose with false promises and pretenses to action as Americans are? I don’t think so.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.