Senators Coons, Isakson urge African leaders to vote against unilateral recognition of Palestinian state at the United Nations

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa, have sent joint letters to 23 African leaders asking them to oppose recognition of a Palestinian state in the United Nations General Assembly, which begins a new session on Tuesday.

The two will discuss their effort at a press conference in the Capitol (S-120) on Tuesday at 2:30 pm. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) will also attend and discuss similar outreach to leaders in the western hemisphere.

In the letter, the senators expressed their concern over efforts by Palestinian leadership to seek unilateral recognition of statehood during the upcoming meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. In their view, “any effort to bypass negotiations and engage in a political exercise at the U.N. would run counter to the cause of peace. Unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state at the U.N. is not in the best interest of the Palestinian people or conducive to the ultimate objective of two democratic states living side-by-side in security and peace.”

Instead, they urged that, “a resolution between the long-standing conflict can be achieved through direct, bilateral negotiations between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. government indicated it would oppose such a measure in the General Assembly and veto such a resolution in the Security Council. Congress has also supported this position and passed a resolution in June that reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through direct negotiations; reaffirmed opposition to the inclusion of Hamas in a unity government unless it is willing to accept peace with Israel and renounce violence; and declared that Palestinian efforts to gain recognition of a state outside direct negotiations demonstrated absence of a good faith commitment to peace negotiations.

Letters were sent to the leaders of: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Republic of Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Republic of Zambia.

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