Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called in an address to the United Nations Security Council Tuesday to convene an international conference by mid-2018 that would result in the recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
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"We call for the convening of an international peace conference by mid-2018, based on international law and the relevant UN resolutions," Abbas told the UN Security Council in New York.
Abbas said that recognizing a Palestinian state would enhance the prospects of succeeding at negotiations with Israel, and added that the Palestinian Authority "continues to strive for recognition by the rest of the States in the world."
The Palestinian president slammed the Trump administration, describing Washington's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital as an "unlawful decision which was rejected by the international community, to remove the issue of Jerusalem 'off the table.'"
Abbas said that the only way to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is by establishing "a multi-lateral international mechanism emanating from an international conference and in line with international law and the relevant resolutions."
The Palestinian leader said that "Israel is acting like a state above the law" and said the Israeli government caused the failure of all past efforts to reach peace.
Abbas said that the Palestinians have persisted in their efforts to reach peace with Israel and have engaged in dialogue. Abbas stressed his commitment to non-violence, but said the Palestinians will oppose any attempt to impose a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Israel shut the door on the two-state solution," the Palestinian president said.
In his address to the council, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said "the only way it [Israeli-Palestinian peace] is going to work is with direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians."
Directly addressing Abbas, Danon told the Palestinian leader, "you are no longer part of the solution, you are part of the problem."
The Palestinian leader opened his address by saying that the Palestinians "are the descendants of the Canaanites that lived on the land of Palestine 5,000 years ago," adding that "all of this existed before and after the Balfour declaration."
"We are working for the occupation, we are employees of the occupation," Abbas said, in a reference to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
Jared Kushner, U.S. President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, arrived at the UN Security Council Tuesday for meetings about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process ahead of Abbas' speach.
Kushner was accompanied by Jason Greenblatt, Trump's special envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Abbas has been boycotting the Trump administration ever since Washington's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December.
A White House spokesperson told Haaretz that "as we continue to finalize our plan, we came to the United Nations to hear President Abbas’ speech. We strongly hope that he shares fresh and constructive ideas that can create a comprehensive and lasting peace for both sides because merely recycling the same talking points has not led to peace for decades."
Kushner and Greenblatt were seen talking with Danon before Abbas' speech began.
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