Occupied Jerusalem:  Frustrated by the collapse of US-sponsored peace talks, Palestinians are preparing to take their case to the UN Security Council in the coming days with a resolution declaring ongoing Jewish colony construction in the West Bank a major obstacle to ending the conflict.

The carefully worded resolution stops short of calling for sanctions against Israel or seeking recognition for Palestinian statehood. But it is designed to increase pressure on both Israel and the United States, Palestinian officials said.

The US frequently has supported Israel by vetoing such moves in the UN. But Palestinian officials say the proposed resolution mirrors views expressed by the Obama administration in recent months.

"It's a very moderate resolution, by design, because we don't want the US to veto it," Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sunday.

"We want the international community to tell Israel that the [colonies] are against international law." If the US were to veto a resolution that reflects what "Obama said in his speech in Cairo" and what US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said, "then that's a story," Erekat said.

State Department officials are waiting to see the language of the resolution, but they said they would prefer to resume peace talks rather than see diplomatic moves at the UN. Israeli officials accused Palestinians of evading the peace process.

Suspended negotiations

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he was prepared to sit down with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas "until white smoke wafts," referring to the Vatican signal for selection of a new pope.

Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, which had been suspended for almost two years, resumed September 2. But they broke down less than a month later after Israel did not renew a 10-month partial freeze on colony construction. Palestinians said they would not return to the negotiating table until Israel stops building colonies in lands it occupied in 1967.

The US also opposes colony construction, but last month the Obama administration gave up on efforts to persuade Israel to stop building and decided to look for another way to propel negotiations.

Though a UN resolution against colonies would not be new, analysts see the Palestinian campaign as the beginning of a new strategy to muster international support and apply pressure on Israel.

Ali Hussain, editor in chief of the Palestinian news agency Wafa, said the draft resolution was "a first step on a long road of resolutions until we get to the final resolution that says the occupation should end."

Palestinians are hoping to persuade the international community to offer a peace plan which would include recognition of a Palestinian state, and pressure Israel to accept it. Abbas has called upon the Mideast Quartet to draft a peace plan based on previous UN Security Council resolutions.