[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: The Palestinians don't want to admit it - but
they know that 242 doesn't dictate the of negotiations between Israel and
the Arabs. 242 doesn't require full withdrawal ("from territories" rather
than "from the territories") and instead sets as the goal "secure and
recognized boundaries" - with the U.S., Russia and the others participating
in the vote indicating that the "secure" requirement would mean very
different lines than the '67 lines.

Now the Palestinians wants to have the world dictate the outcome of the
negotiations with a radical change in the goal of an agreement - complete
withdrawal rather than security.]

Erekat denies PA plans to declare state unilaterally
TOVAH LAZAROFF and HERB KEINON , THE JERUSALEM POST Nov. 18, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258489190816&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

The Palestinians will not unilaterally declare an independent state, but
rather seek a UN Security Council resolution endorsing a two-state solution
along the pre-1967 lines, Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat told
The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

Israeli officials said Erekat was backtracking on earlier statements calling
for a unilateral declaration of independence, even as he said that Israel
was "twisting his words."

The Palestinians want the Security Council to set the borders of their
future state and those of Israel along the pre-1967 lines, Erekat said.

"What we are seeking is to preserve the two-state solution," he said. "One
state is not an option."

In light of the deadlocked peace process and continued Israeli actions that
jeopardized any possibility of a two-state solution, Palestinians felt that
they had no choice but to appeal to the international community for help
through the Security Council, Erekat said.

"We want the Security Council to declare that the two-state solution is the
only option and that it would recognize the state of Palestine on the '67
borders and to live side by side with the State of Israel," he said.

One senior Israeli government source said that Erekat's comments were an
effort to backtrack on the plan to unilaterally declare a state, following
the refusal of either the US or the EU to support the idea.

Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the rotating
presidency of the EU, said before a EU foreign ministers meeting on Tuesday
that regarding a Palestinian state, "I don't think we are there yet. I would
hope that we will be in a position to recognize a Palestinian state, but
there has to be one first. I think that is somewhat premature."

At the same time, Bildt said, we are "discussing other steps to demonstrate
our support for the Palestinian aspirations more than we have done so far,
and clearly there is a need for that."

The senior Israeli government official said it was clear from the whole
process of negotiations with the Palestinians over the past 16 years that
the final borders needed to be negotiated, and "could not be set
unilaterally."

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said this week that a unilateral
Palestinian declaration would have "no significance," but that such a move
would break the "ground rules" and leave open to Israel "a whole range of
possible responses." He did not elaborate.

Erekat said that a request for the UN Security Council to specify the
pre-1967 lines as the future border between Israel and a Palestinian state
was consistent with Security Council Resolution 1515 from 2003, which
adopted the principles of the road map and a two-state solution, but did not
specify what the borders would be.

Security Council Resolution 1397 from 2002 was the first to affirm a
two-state solution, with a Palestinian state next to Israel.

"What we are asking the world to do is to specify the borders of the state
as the 1967 border," Erekat said. If the UN Security Council already passed
a resolution that endorses a two-state solution, why could it not say that
this solution would be on the 1967 line? he asked.

"I want to make sure the Israeli people understand that we are not speaking
of a unilateral declaration," Erekat said. "This is not an option."

He blamed Israeli leaders for reports that the PA was seeking a unilateral
declaration of statehood, saying they were "always trying to twist our
words."

Erekat said that while Israel's borders have yet to be finalized after 61
years, in the interim the country has changed the facts on the ground by
continuing with unilateral steps such as settlement activity in the West
Bank and east Jerusalem.

The decision to turn to the Security Council, he said, was affirmed last
Thursday at the Arab League's meeting of foreign ministers, and was
necessary to prevent Netanyahu from "undermining the two-state solution" by
continued settlement activity.

The Palestinians have not yet set a date by which they planned to turn to
the Security Council, Erekat said.

At this stage, he said, they were consulting and seeking support from
countries around the globe for the resolution. Statements by the US and the
European Union rejecting Palestinian pursuit of unilateral statehood were
not relevant, he said, because they did not correctly address the
Palestinians' true goals.

He noted that the bulk of the international community has never recognized
Israel's right to the West Bank or east Jerusalem.

Erekat said he did not believe that a Security Council resolution would stop
the Palestinians and the Israelis from coming to a later agreement that
would slightly modify the border through lands swaps such as those suggested
in past negotiations.

What it would do, he said, was give the Palestinians an accomplishment to
point to after nearly two decades of a diplomatic process from which they
feel they have received nothing.

"I do not have anything now. The Israelis are still the authority," he said,
adding that Israel continued building settlements and demolishing homes in
east Jerusalem.

"Unfortunately we have an Israeli government that refuses to resume where we
left off [with prime minister Ehud Olmert]," Erekat said.

"What should we do while the Israeli government is busy with fait accompli
actions" but to turn to the Security Council to preserve the option of two
states? he asked.

One senior Israeli diplomatic source said it was ironic that the PA, which
turned down Olmert's offer just a year ago, was now "nostalgic" for that
offer and trying to force the new Israeli government to take it up.

In Cairo on Tuesday, PA President Mahmoud Abbas said that this plan was the
only way to secure a state for his people.

He spoke with the media after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak,
who urged him not to make good on the threat he had issued earlier this
month to step down after a presidential election he had set for January 24.

But last week, in a move that made it hard for Abbas to quit, election
officials postponed the vote indefinitely.

Many senior Israeli officials are still taking Abbas's resignation threat
very seriously, convinced that Israel would be worse off without him.

Some are urging the government to take a strategic decision to bolster Abbas
such as further easing movement in the West Bank, cutting in half the number
of IDF raids into areas under PA control and placing more areas of the West
Bank under the control of Palestinian security forces.

PA forces are deemed to be operating effectively.

A few have even urged the government to consider increasing the flow of
goods into Gaza, which has been restricted solely to humanitarian aid since
Hamas violently took over the area in 2007.

Proponents of easing Israel's blockade of the Gaza crossings have argued
that this would reduce the reliance on goods smuggled into the area through
Hamas-controlled tunnels from Sinai, thereby increasing support for Abbas.

American officials are also anxious for Israel to bolster Abbas. They
believe that the economic and security progress the Palestinians attributed
to measures instituted by Prime Minister Salaam Fayad would be lost, unless
palpable momentum is achieved and conditions are created under which peace
talks can take place.

Netanyahu on Sunday night, in an address at the Saban Forum, called on the
Palestinian leadership to take "courageous" steps for peace, and said that
once talks are resumed, "we can surprise the world."

But he warned the Palestinians that unilateral steps on their part would be
met by similar measures on Israel's side.

AP contributed to this report.

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