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PA retreat at UN: Abbas pulls vote to condemn Trump plan

“We pulled the request because we didn’t want to humiliate ourselves,” PA representatives said.

By David Isaac, World Israel News

In an embarrassment for the Palestinian Authority, its president, Mahmoud Abbas, pulled a planned resolution to reject the Trump administration’s peace plan, which he had intended to put before the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

According to diplomats, the resolution didn’t have the nine out of 15 votes to win support, barring a veto, Agence-France Presse reports. That veto would have certainly come anyway from the U.S.

According to Israel Hayom, the PA collapse came after “an American-Israeli blitz” that put pressure, including the threat of financial penalties, on members of the UN Security Council not to support the resolution, which was put forward by Indonesia and Tunisia.

The Israeli team at the UN expressed satisfaction at the results of the pressure campaign.

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, said, “Our line was clear — not condemnation against Israel but only negotiations will promote a peace process. I thank the countries that helped to stop Abbas’s unnecessary action.”

Members of Abbas’s team told Israel Hayom that the resolution was yanked because of “a lack of international support for the Palestinian demands,” and that “We pulled the request because we didn’t want to humiliate ourselves.”

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The resolution was dropped after it had been watered down to remove criticisms of the U.S. and its claim that the Trump deal breached international law.

The criticisms were reportedly too much for Tunisia’s president, who had his Ambassador to the UN, Moncef Baati, recalled and fired. Diplomatic sources said that the reason was the draft resolution’s wording attacking the U.S. and President Donald Trump.

A debate on the Trump peace plan will take place on Tuesday even though the resolution was pulled, according to Israel Hayom. Abbas will represent the Palestinian side. Danon and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft will represent Israel and America.