Washington, DC--Rep. Eliot L. Engel, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement following the United Nations’ General Assembly’s vote to make Palestine a “nonmember observer state.”

“I would like to see a two-state solution where a state of Palestine would live peacefully next to the state of Israel.  But, this is not the way to get there.  In fact, making Palestine a “nonmember observer state” outside of bilateral negotiations with Israel places the cart before the horse and eliminates the incentives for the Palestinians to engage in any type of dialogue with Israel. 

“Indeed, the international community has its incentives for the Palestinians totally backwards.  Hamas shoots thousands of rockets at Israel and gets visits and legitimization from the international community.  The Palestinian Authority is unwilling to engage in dialogue to reach a compromise with Israel and becomes a non-member observer state. Rewarding these actions is like putting the car in reverse and stepping on the gas.

“This is not the way to get the parties to the table to negotiate a two-state solution.  Rather, it is the way to get both sides to harden their positions.  I want to see peace in the Middle East, but sadly we’re not going to get there like this.”

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