German FM Guido Westerwelle
Photo: AP
Germany to PA: Drop UN bid
Berlin's foreign minister heads to Israel, PA for official visit; will try to convince Palestinians unilateral UN bid is 'the wrong approach'
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will visit Israel next week, with Berlin's Aid Minister Dirk Niebel visiting Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip at the same time, officials in Berlin said.
While in Israel, Westerwelle will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
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The two are also slated to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and will reportedly try to convince him to drop his plan bid for UN statehood recognition, as planned for September.
"We believe that any standstill in the Middle East peace process at the present time represents a setback, given the changes in the Arab world," Westerwelle's spokesman Andreas Peschke said in Berlin.
Nevertheless, Berlin's FM added, Germany "must convince the Palestinian Authority that a unilateral declaration of statehood is the wrong approach."
Berlin is planning to offer the Palestinians as the UN Security Council to issue a resolution supporting the formation of the Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines.
Such a proposal is likely to garner the support of the US, but it is still unclear whether the European Union would back it.
Jerusalem is reportedly pleased with Germany's stand on the PA's bid.
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