Obama warns there is no 'shortcut' to peace

US President Barack Obama warned Wednesday there was no "shortcut" to peace as the Palestinians appeared to hear pleas to ease tensions over their bid for full UN state membership. As France launched its own bid to avert a new Middle East crisis over the Palestinian campaign, a top official said Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was ready to give "some time" to the Security Council to consider statehood. But the Palestinians did not pull back from their vow to submit their application on Friday, with tens of thousands of Palestinians rallying in the occupied territories in support of the move. Even though several countries stepped up to the podium at the UN General Assembly to voice their backing for the Palestinian -- including Brazil, Lebanon and South Africa all non-permanent members of the Security Council -- Obama insisted only direct negotiations could lead to a peace deal with Israel. "I am convinced that there is no shortcut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades," Obama told the UN General Assembly in his speech. He did not mention the US threat to veto the issue if it goes before the UN Security Council, but said: "Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the UN -- if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now." Many observers fear that a US veto of the Palestinian ambition could trigger a wave of violence in the Middle East, already rocked by the pro-democracy uprisings in several countries. But Obama insisted the Israelis and Palestinians must sit down to "reach agreement on the issues that divide them: on borders and security; on refugees and Jerusalem." For Obama, the confrontation is an embarrassment as 12 months ago he stood at the UN assembly and called for Palestinian membership of the United Nations within a year. "I believed then -- and I believe now -- that the Palestinian people deserve a state of their own," Obama said. But he added Israel must also have cast-iron security guarantees. "Let's be honest: Israel is surrounded by neighbors that have waged repeated wars against it." He later met with both Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the US leader deserved a "badge of honor" for his defense of the Jewish state. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also urged the Israeli leader to act with "restraint" and "wisdom" over the Palestinian bid. Sarkozy told the General Assembly it was unrealistic for the Palestinians to expect immediate full UN membership. But he added: "Who could doubt that a veto at the Security Council risks engendering a cycle of violence in the Middle East?" Sarkozy proposed giving the Palestinians an observer state status at the UN as an intermediate step toward full membership. He also set out an EU-inspired timetable for new Israel-Palestinian talks which said negotiations should resume within a month and there should be a definitive accord within a year. Sarkozy insisted that the usual US-led peace process should not bypass European and Arab countries. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Palestinians had reacted "positively" to the French proposals and Netanyahu had noted them. He said any Security Council vote on the Palestinians would take weeks, giving France time to press its proposals and develop a strategy. US and European diplomats appeared to be working to buy time to find a formula that would allow greater international recognition of a Palestinian state while forcing the two sides back to negotiations, frozen for the past 12 months. Abbas will give "some time to the Security Council to consider first our full membership request before heading to the General Assembly," Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath told reporters. The Palestinians have said that if there is a US veto at the Security Council, it will go to the UN General Assembly to seek an elevated observer status, similar to the one given to the Vatican. If the Palestinian resolution does not get at least nine votes on the 15-member council, the motion would fail and no veto would be necessary. A General Assembly vote would only require a simple majority and no veto is possible. Israel fears that even a super-observer status would give the Palestinians the right to join the International Criminal Court and make complaints about Israel. The French proposal urged the Palestinians not to start any ICC action while talks are going ahead.