MOSCOW, December 16 (Sputnik) – Palestine will press for the UN Security Council to vote in favour of a resolution stipulating a two-year deadline for an Israeli pull-out from the occupied territories in the West Bank and considers Russia to be its supporter on the issue, Jamil Shahada, Secretary-General of the Palestinian Arab Front, has told Sputnik.
"We are going to the UN on Wednesday and Russia is our ally," Shahada said Monday, adding that Palestine will push for continued voting on the draft Security Council resolution if it is not passed the first time.
Shahada also said that the chief Palestinian negotiator at the Arab League Saeb Erekat will meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday to try and convince the United States, which has been supporting Israel, not to use its veto power against Palestine on Wednesday.
If the UN Security Council refuses to pass the draft resolution, Palestine could appeal to the International Criminal Court, Shahada stressed, adding that Netanyahu's refusal to give in on the issue is due to his desire to win in the upcoming elections.
"Netanyahu is trying to promote himself for the upcoming elections with his speech regarding the settlements," Shahada told Sputnik.
Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly vowed on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority's resolution calling for an end of Israel's occupation of the West Bank by the end of 2016 would be rejected by the United Nations.
Palestinians want to create an independent state on the West Bank territories, including East Jerusalem, partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip.
The draft resolution, put together in October, requires Israel to pull out of the Palestinian territories it took after the Six-Day War in 1967.
