WASHINGTON _ Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas made a rare appearance before the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday and called for an international peace conference by mid-year _ something especially needed, he said, since the U.S. can no longer be counted on as the lone mediator.
It is "essential," Abbas said, that a "multilateral international mechanism" be established to broker peace.
The Palestinians have lost faith in the United States as an honest mediator after President Donald Trump reversed decades of policy and recognized the disputed holy city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Abbas said he hoped a conference in mid-2018 would set a timeline to resolve all issues with Israel tied to the two-state solution, the internationally recognized arrangement that calls for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
The Trump administration has also refused to fully embrace the two-state solution, another reversal of long-standing U.S. policy.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Abbas' remarks were "constructive" but that participation of other countries in the peace process was something for future consideration. She said the administration remained "willing to listen to both sides."
