Netanyahu counters Palestinian statehood bid

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a series of diplomatic consultations Monday in Rome, attempting to build opposition to a planned Palestinian appeal to the United Nations for statehood.

Netanyahu met with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Secretary of State John Kerry. The State Department said before the meeting that the two intended to discuss “a number of issues,” including recent developments in Israel, the West Bank, Jerusalem and the region.

However, the immediate topic topping the leaders’ agenda is the Palestinian Authority’s bid to the U.N. Security Council to set a two-year deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.

“We want a clear and specific resolution for a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital,” chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told news media after the Palestinian leadership convened Sunday night.

Reportedly, the Palestinians plan to approach the Security Council this week. Jordan, a nonpermanent member of the council, most likely would submit the draft on the Palestinians’ behalf, and a vote could come as early as Wednesday.

Ahead of Monday’s meetings, Netanyahu vowed the measure would not pass.

“We will not accept attempts to dictate to us unilateral moves on a limited timetable,” he said at Israel’s airport. “In a reality in which Islamic terrorism is reaching out to all corners of the globe, we will rebuff any attempt that would put this terrorism inside our home,” said Netanyahu, who rejects demands for withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders as a security threat.