RAMALLAH – The Palestinians will press ahead with a bid to upgrade their status at the United Nations, a senior official said Monday, brushing off a request by Israel to halt the initiative. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has renewed his call for an immediate resumption of peace talks and has warned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas against making any unilateral moves in the UN General Assembly. With the negotiations frozen since 2010 in a dispute over Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, Abbas plans to ask the UN General Assembly this month to upgrade the Palestinian's diplomatic status at the world body. They are currently registered as an “observer entity", but want to become an “observer state," granting them access to bodies such as the International Criminal Court, where they could file complaints against Israel. Commenting on Netanyahu's call to talk now, Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said any direct talks must await the UN vote, which the Palestinians look certain to win in the face of Israeli and US objection to the unilateral move. “When we return from the UN General Assembly and are a non-member state based on 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital, the way to direct negotiations will be open to achieve security and stability on this basis," Abu Rdainah said. – Reuters
