Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour and PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi have accused Israel of timing the recent attack on Gaza, in part, to challenge Palestinian efforts to seek UN non member state status.

Although Israeli military escalations and attacks prior to Israel’s parliamentary elections are widely perceived as a familiar tradition, the accusation from officials that the “Pillar of Cloud” attack was initiated, in part, to thwart the UN bid slated for November 29 is fresh.

Note the ambassadors trading barbs.

AFP:

The Palestinian UN envoy said Wednesday’s attack – which killed the top Hamas military commander in the territory – was deliberately timed to torpedo the UN vote in two weeks and influence Israel’s general election in January.

Israel’s UN ambassador retorted that events in Gaza had shown the futility of the Palestinian campaign for international recognition.

“They should change their request from a Non-Member State to Non-Member Terrorist State,” said ambassador Ron Prosor.

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The US is talking with Palestinian officials in a bid to at least delay the vote, UN diplomats said.

“The Gaza strikes will complicate negotiations around the Palestinian application even more,” one Western official said on condition of anonymity.

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The Israeli ambassador meanwhile warned the Security Council meeting that Palestinian success at the United Nations could lead to more violence.

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Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour questioned why Israel is fighting so hard against the UN vote if it believes the bid is meaningless, saying Israeli leaders are “dead afraid” of Palestinian admission to the General Assembly.

“I believe part of the timing of the attack by the Israelis on Gaza is trying to divert attention away from our energies in mobilising the international community” for the UN vote, he said.