As the White House threatens not to block a vote on Palestinian statehood, one Republican congressman thinks the United Nations should be focusing on the Palestinians' relationship with the terror group Hamas.
"I think what we need to have is a resolution in the U.N. compelling the Palestinians to denounce Hamas," Robert Pittenger of North Carolina said Thursday on
Fox News Channel's "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren."
"That is a real concern that America should be addressing in the U.N.," he said, "not seeking to put Israel in the position where it can't defend its own country."
The Obama administration has signaled it might consider ending the United States' longstanding policy of blocking United Nations votes on recognizing Palestinian statehood.
That move came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a tight re-election bid, said there would be no Palestinian state if he won.
Netanyahu's Likud Party won handily, bringing about the statement from the White House.
Netanyahu told MSNBC on Thursday he meant only that no Palestinian state would exist as long as there are not serious negotiations about Palestinians cutting ties to Hamas.
Former Israeli U.N. Ambassador Dore Gold told CNN on Thursday that Netanyahu's words in Hebrew actually meant there would be no Palestinian state "today"
— meaning as long as no agreement has been reached.
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