Brussels, 17/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - Israel has warned that United Nations recognition of an independent Palestinian state in September would nullify the Oslo peace accord and other agreements, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported on Friday 17 June. The warning, by far-right Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, was made in front of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton as she visited Israel and the Palestinian territories. “The unilateral declaration at the United Nations would mean the end of the Oslo Agreement, and a violation of all the agreements that were signed up to today”, he was quoted as saying. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to seek membership of the United Nations and to request international recognition of a new state. EU nations are divided over the issue, while Israel and the United States are opposed to it.
Ashton was also scheduled to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and have dinner with Abbas in an effort to find a way to get both parties back to the negotiating table after all direct contact was cut off last September. She was due to travel to Cairo on Saturday 18 June to discuss developments in Libya, then return to Israel on Sunday to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Quartet envoy Tony Blair. She will report back to EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday 20 June.