The United Nations envoy for the Middle East peace process warned a session of the UN Security Council on Tuesday of the continuing diplomatic impasse between Israel and the PLO.

Robert Serry told the council “if the parties do not grasp the current opportunity, they should realize the implication is not merely slowing progress toward a two-state solution.

"Instead, we could be moving down the path toward a one-state reality, which would also move us further away from regional peace in the spirit of the Arab Peace Initiative”.

Serry was expressing disagreement with those arguing that the time was not right for diplomatic progress due to the Arab Spring uprisings in neighboring countries like Egypt and Syria.

“On the contrary”, Serry said, according to a transcript of his remarks, “the search for a lasting peace that ends the Arab-Israeli conflict and resolves all claims is in my view more urgent than ever”.

The special coordinator also noted a number of what he considered positive trends, such as the exchange of letters between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority.

He also briefed the Council on the latest developments regarding Palestinian reconciliation and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s expanded coalition.

But he said “the current situation remains fragile and uncertain”.

(Ma’an)