RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinians are ready to sign up a ‘‘state of Palestine’’ for additional international agencies and treaties — a step Israel views as highly provocative — if US peace efforts collapse after an April 29 deadline for a deal, a senior official said Monday.
The warning by Mohammed Ishtayeh, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, came as US mediators tried to defuse the worst crisis in the negotiations since Secretary of State John F. Kerry persuaded the two sides last summer to resume talks for nine months.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met late Sunday and again Monday to try to overcome the latest setback in the talks. The US Consulate in Jerusalem said the meeting was ‘‘serious and constructive.’’
Under the terms of renewed talks adopted in the summer, Israel promised to release 104 Palestinian prisoners in four groups, while the Palestinians said they would suspend a campaign to sign up Palestine for as many as 63 UN agencies, treaties, and conventions. Palestine was recognized by the UN General Assembly as a nonmember observer state in 2012.
After Israel failed last week to release the fourth group of prisoners on time, Abbas signed letters of accession for 15 international conventions. Israel then said the final prisoner release was off the table.
Israel has since asked Abbas to withdraw the letters of accession, according to an Israeli official close to the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the dealings between the two sides with the media.
Ishtayeh said the accession requests are irreversible.
Kerry originally hoped for a peace deal by April 29. He lowered his sights after months without progress, saying he sought a framework deal by that date. In recent weeks, negotiations focused on reaching agreement on extending the talks into 2015.