On Thursday more than 100 Palestinian officials submitted statehood plans to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at a ceremony in Ramallah. If approved, it could make Palestine the 194th state to join the U.N.
Palestinian officials are positioning themselves to present their proposal to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 20. The plan urges the U.N. to recognize the oft-debated pre-1967 Palestine borderlines, which includes the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula.
The plans come after the U.S. and Israeli governments urge Palestine to abort this effort, calling it a “unilateral” move to undermine Israel-Palestine peace talks.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed Palestine officials saying that peace was made “through direct negotiations between the sides, and not through international dictate. Therefore I call from this stage to the president of the PA to come to direct negotiations without preconditions, and to remain there until it is finished.”
