Herzog urges Abbas not to take unilateral steps

Opposition leader and Labor party head Isaac Herzog urged Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday not to take any unilateral action in an attempt to hasten the establishment of a future Palestinian state, and called on the Palestinian president to instead resume negotiations with the Israeli government.

“The only way [to found a Palestinian state] is through negotiations between the parties,” Herzog said during a meeting with Abbas in Ramallah.

“Therefore, we must make every effort to bring the parties back to this path.”

Abbas, however, reiterated his intention to demand international recognition for the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 lines, with minor land swaps. The Palestinian president said he would advance this demand during an imminent visit to France and the US. He added that he was open to talks with Israel, but stated that no significant process had been made during negotiations in the past.

On Monday, PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said Abbas plans to ask French President Francois Hollande to recognize a Palestinian state when the two meet in Paris on Friday.

It would be a first step toward rallying support from European countries for Abbas’s diplomatic diplomatic initiative ahead of his planned request that the UN Security Council set a timetable for Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories, the Ma’an news agency reported.

Abbas will spend two days in Paris before heading to New York, where he will attend the UN General Assembly, which opens on September 24.

The Palestinian leader will use his speech to the UN to try to rally support for a new diplomatic initiative to set a date for ending an Israeli pullout from the West Bank.

He recently obtained backing from the Arab League for his plan, which aims to secure Israel’s withdrawal within three years and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the territories Israel captured in the Six Day War of 1967.

Earlier this month, a senior Palestinian official said the PA leadership was going to seek a UN Security Council vote on a resolution setting a three-year deadline for ending the occupation, despite knowing any such text would be vetoed by Washington.

If, as expected, the Security Council bid fails, the Palestinians have said they will consider fast-tracking an application to become party to the International Criminal Court.

That would pave the way for possible prosecutions over Israeli actions in the territories, including during the 50-day war in Gaza which ended on August 26. Hamas, which fired 4,600 rockets indiscriminately at Israel, would also be vulnerable to prosecution.

Times of Israel Staff and AFP contributed to this report.