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Israel Welcomes Palestinian Statehood Delay
Israel expressed on Sunday its welcome to the delay of the Palestinian statehood declaration, calling the move "a positive step."
"We believe it is a result of the position of the international community which opposes unilateral steps that can only hurt the peace process," Gadi Baltiansky, spokesman of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, said in New York, according to Israel Radio.
Baltiansky is accompanying Barak on his trip to the United States to attend the U.N. Millennium Summit. Barak is to return to Israel on Monday.
Acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami also expressed his welcome to the delay, hailing it as "positive."
Palestine Central Council (PCC) decided on Sunday in Gaza City to postpone the statehood declaration, saying it will meet again before November 15 to decide when to declare an independent state.
The PCC also authorized the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization to tackle all the statehood-related issues, while several committees have been set up to prepare legal papers, including drafting the constitution, for the establishment of an independent state.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said earlier in the day that the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, which have been stalled since the Camp David Summit in July, will resume on Monday and continue for five weeks.
Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Sunday in Gaza that the talks may be resumed on Tuesday after Barak's return from the United States.
Ben-Ami, Israeli Chief Negotiator, said earlier on Sunday that no meetings had been scheduled as yet but Israel was prepared to resume talks with the Palestinians.
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