The Hill News

This was a historic day at the United Nations, as the world watched Mahmoud Abbas waving a copy of the Palestinians’ application for U.N. membership as a full-fledged state to thunderous applause from delegates.

The application triggered a storm of international diplomatic activity culminating in a timetable from the Middle East Quartet, and an offer from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks “today, in the United Nations.”

This was always a gamble by Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president who decided to pursue a bid for statehood through the U.N. Security Council despite a public warning from Obama who lined up with Israel to declare from the U.N. podium this week that there could be no “shortcut” to peace.

Read more...