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 Before the two convened in Rome, Israel put the United States on
notice it expected Washington to exercise its Security Council veto
against any resolutions setting a timeframe.
Jordan has circulated a draft Palestinian resolution to the
15-member forum calling for Israeli occupation of Palestinian land
to end by November 2016.
U.S. officials have indicated that Washington did not find the
Palestinian draft acceptable, but said that with matters still
fluid, it was premature to take a position now on any particular
Security Council resolution.
"Whether we have the nine votes at the Security Council or we don't,
the decision has been taken to present the Palestinian-Arab
resolution in the Security Council on Wednesday," said Wasel Abu
Youssef, an official of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the
Palestinians' highest decision-making body, led by President Mahmoud
Abbas.
 Shortly before leaving for Rome, in the middle of a re-election
campaign, Netanyahu said:
"We will not accept attempts to dictate unilateral, time-bound moves
to us," he told reporters. "I will say these things in the clearest
manner. Even if there are dictates, we will stand up to them
firmly."
Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said Israel expected
Washington to use its Security Council veto, if necessary, as it has
done in the past in support of its ally.
France is also leading a bid among Europeans to draft a resolution
with a less definitive timetable before Israel's March 17 election.
A Western diplomat said the Europeans felt the United States was now
open to that possibility.
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Israeli-Palestinian peace talks championed by Kerry, who had set a
nine-month target date for their success, collapsed in April. A Gaza
war last summer, heightened violence in recent weeks in Israel and
the West Bank and the Israeli election campaign have all dampened
prospects of resuming talks soon.
Kerry planned to travel later on Monday for talks with counterparts
from France, Britain and Germany, and he will meet Palestinian chief
negotiator Saeb Erekat in London on Tuesday.
While saying he would support Palestinian statehood under an
eventual peace deal, Netanyahu has balked at comprehensive
withdrawals from the West Bank, which many Israelis consider a
security bulwark and Jewish biblical birthright.
(Additional reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Ali Sawafta
in Ramallah; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Ralph Boulton)
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