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U.S. pledges continuous efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian talks
WASHINGTON, Nov 29, 2012 (Xinhua via COMTEX) --
The United States pledged on
Thursday to continue efforts to bring the Israelis and the
Palestinians back for direct talks, as the UN General Assembly was
set to vote for an elevated status for the Palestinians despite U.
S. objection.
"Regardless of what happens in New York today, the United
States is going to continue to try to bring these parties back to
the table," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told
reporters at a regular news briefing.
"Obviously we're going to," she said, noting "The president is
committed to that, and I think the only question is what kind of
environment we're working in."
Despite Washington's repeated threat to veto and last-minute
efforts to stall him, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on
Thursday went ahead with his plea for an elevated status of non-
member observer state of Palestine from the current entity, saying
obtaining the new status was "the last chance to save the two-
state solution."
The Palestinians would garner the needed simple majority in the
193-member General Assembly, which has a majority of Arab, Muslim,
developing and Non-Aligned Movement countries.
The United States has vehemently opposed to the Palestinians'
latest move, arguing the elevated status would change nothing on
the ground and a Palestinian state can only be achieved through
direct talks with Israel.
"I have said many times that the path to a two-state solution
that fulfills the aspirations of the Palestinian people is through
Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York," U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton told reporters on Wednesday.
"The only way to get a lasting solution is to commence direct
negotiations," she added.
Direct talks between the two parties broke down only weeks
after U.S. President Barack Obama made them sit down at the
negotiating table in early September 2010, as Israel refused to
back down over settlement building in the West Bank.
The Palestinians' bid for a full statehood failed at the UN
Security Council last year due to Washington's threat of use of
veto.
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