The U.S. State Department sharply criticized on Monday the Palestinian plan to submit a draft resolution at the UN Security Council, calling for an end to the occupation and the creation of a state by 2017.

The move "is not constructive, sets arbitrary deadlines and fails to account for Israel's security needs," the State Department said.

The U.S. State Department announcement comes after Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on Sunday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a final attempt to delay the submission of a Palestinian resolution to the United Nations Security Council.



Abbas told Kerry that he was determined to go ahead with the resolution, despite the international pressure on him, and that he wanted the earliest possible vote.



Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also referred to the Palestinian initiative during a meeting on Monday with the Indiana Governor Mike Pence, who is currently visiting Israel.



"We expect the entire international community, at least its responsible members, to strongly oppose this dictate to the UN and the Security Council. What we need is direct negotiations and not dictated terms," Netanyahu said.



"If the international community does not reject the Palestinian Authority's proposal, we will do so. Israel will oppose are conditions that endanger its security."

Meanwhile, Arab ambassadors on Monday endorsed the Palestinian amendments to the resolution. Jordan's UN Ambassador Dina Kawar, the Arab representative on the Security Council, told reporters after the closed-door meeting of the 22 Arab envoys that the revised text would be submitted to the council later Monday.



She said the Palestinian and Jordanian leaders "will be contacting each other today to find the best time to cast the vote in the Security Council on the amended version."

President Abbas said before the Arab group met that the revised resolution would be submitted Monday and voted on Tuesday.

The Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters after the meeting that a vote "could happen tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow." But Kawar, when asked whether the vote could be put off until after Jan. 1, when five new members join the Security Council, said: "Everything is possible."

Earlier Monday, Palestinian officials said the draft resolution they intend to submit is not new, but rather a revision of the resolution submitted to the council by Jordan earlier this month.

The revised resolution sharpens the Palestinian stance on Jerusalem, future borders and Palestinian refugees.

At the same time, the officials said, if the resolution goes to a vote, it will take place Wednesday – if at all – depending on whether the Palestinians can get majority support at the council.

Arab UN delegations discussed the Palestinian bid on Monday. Jordanian UN Ambassador Dina Kawar told reporters Arab delegations would do what the Palestinians wanted, but indicated Jordan would prefer not to rush things.

A Palestinian draft, submitted to the Security Council by Jordan on December 17, had called for Jerusalem to be the shared capital of Israel and a Palestinian state.

The final proposal reverts to a harder line, saying only that East Jerusalem will be the capital of Palestine, the officials said. It also calls for an end to Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Nine Security Council votes are needed to adopt a resolution, which would then force the United States, Israel's closest ally, to decide whether to use its veto.