U.N. may get plea to intervene in Mideast

JERUSALEM — Palestinian officials said Sunday they are preparing to ask the United Nations to endorse an independent state without Israel's consent because they are losing faith in the peace talks.

The idea appeared to be largely symbolic. The U.S., Israel's closest ally, would likely veto any initiative at the United Nations, and Israel controls the areas where the Palestinians want to establish their homeland. Nonetheless, the move reflected growing Palestinian frustration with the deadlock in peace efforts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the move, warning Israel would retaliate.

"There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians," Netanyahu said. "Any unilateral action would only unravel the framework of agreements between us and can only lead to one-sided steps on the part of Israel." He did not elaborate further.

The Palestinians are upset over continued Israeli expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and are disappointed with the U.S. failure to put pressure on Israel to halt the construction. The lack of progress has led Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to threaten to quit politics.

Abbas, who enjoys strong international support, had threatened to step down after a presidential election set in January. But last week, election officials postponed the vote indefinitely, saying that the Hamas militant group's control of the Gaza Strip made it impossible to proceed. In the West Bank Sunday, officials in Abbas' Fatah Party said they would meet next month to extend his term indefinitely.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said frustrated Palestinians had decided to turn to the U.N. Security Council after 18 years of on-again, off-again negotiations with Israel. The Palestinians seek an independent state that includes the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.

"Now is our defining moment. We went into this peace process in order to achieve a two-state solution," he said. "The endgame is to tell the Israelis that now the international community has recognized the two-state solution on the '67 borders."

The U.S. has been trying to restart peace talks since President Barack Obama took office last January. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged the Palestinians to negotiate with him. But they refuse, saying Netanyahu must first stop settlement construction. Netanyahu has offered only a partial settlement freeze and refuses to endorse the 1967 lines as the basis for an agreement.