The United States reiterated on Monday that it does not support the unilateral draft resolution that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is promoting at the United Nations Security Council.

State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said Washington believes the resolution, which demands an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria by 2017, would not advance the goal of peace or address Israel’s security needs.

“We don’t think this resolution is constructive,” Rathke told reporters. “We think it sets arbitrary deadlines for reaching a peace agreement and for Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank, and those are more likely to curtail useful negotiations than to bring them to a successful conclusion.”

He continued, “Further, we think that the resolution fails to account for Israel’s legitimate security needs, and the satisfaction of those needs, of course, integral to a sustainable settlement.”

Earlier on Monday, PA envoys presented a more toughly-worded version of the draft resolution on statehood.

A final decision on the timing for a vote on the resolution at the Security Council rests with PA and Jordanian leaders, and it remains unclear if the PA would seek a quick vote or hold off until January 1 when five new members with a pro-Palestinian stance join the Security Council.

Rathke’s comments on Monday echo recent ones by State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who told reporters earlier this month that Washington has seen the text of the draft resolution and “it is not something that we would support”.

It remains unclear whether the United States would actually veto the resolution. AFP noted earlier that a U.S. veto risks angering key Arab allies, including partners in the international coalition carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.