Israel lobbies against recognizing Palestine

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the ambassadors of foreign countries to reject the Palestinian movement in the United Nations, which "could seriously affect the peace process," as mentioned in a statement from his office. According to the Italian news agency "AKI," Netanyahu told the ambassadors of twenty countries in Washington, most of whom do not have their countries ‘embassies in Israeli that: "supporting the law draft may have a negative impact on the resumption of direct negotiations and in pushing the peace process forward, as it will also prevent the Palestinian leadership in accepting the necessary compromises on their end for spreading peace in the region.” Member of the Executive Committee of the PLO, Saeb Erekat stressed earlier on Monday that "the pursuit of the Palestine Liberation Organization to get the full membership for the State of Palestine in the United Nations has become the main roadmap to keep the peace process afloat and to keep the existence of two states as an option." During a meeting with Robert Serry, the representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, and the General British Consul Sir Vincent Finn, Erekat said:"The PLO is seeking membership of the State of Palestine, and unlike Kosovo for example, will not declare its independence." He added “the recognition of the state of Palestine is up to each country separately, we are not aspiring to declare independence and gain recognition; Palestine’s membership is what we want."