BICOM

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday that the path to a two state solution, creating a Palestinian state side by side with Israel, is not through a UN vote but through direct talks between the two sides. “The only way of getting a lasting solution is through direct negotiations between the parties and the route to that lies in Jerusalem and in Ramallah, not in New York. Our hope is that we get the parties back into a frame of mind and a process where they will actually begin negotiating again, “she said.  Clinton, who was speaking at a news conference, also said that the US believed the Palestinians should not seek a statehood vote at the UN later this month.

In related news, Clinton will send two senior US Middle East envoys, David Hale and Dennis Ross, to Israel later this week. The two envoys will make a last ditch effort to head off a Palestinian vote at the UN and to revert the process back to direct peace talks. Speaking on the topic on Monday, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said, “Our view remains that neither course, neither the Security Council nor the General Assembly, is going to lead to the result that they seek, which is to have a stable, secure state living in peace. They have to do this through negotiations.”