President Shimon Peres spoke to the presidents of Austria and Bosnia-Herzegovina on Tuesday, requesting they oppose the Palestinian bit for statehood at the UN Security Council.
In telephone conversations with Austrian President Heinz Fischer and incumbent President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Živko Budimir, Peres said a Palestinian state could only be established via direct negotiations.
Peres is planning to speak to the presidents of Gabon and Nigeria later tonight.
Gabon's position is being closely watched because it is one of the countries voting on the Security Council. The vote is expected to be close.
Laure Olga Gondjout, the chief of staff for President Ali Bongo of Gabon, said Tuesday that the country has not yet made up its mind on whether Palestinians should be granted UN membership. She added that the country's delegation to the United Nations has not yet submitted its position on the matter.
When asked how Gabon would vote on the Palestinians' bid for United Nations membership, Gondjout replied: "We have not turned in our position statement... We cannot anticipate a recognition of the new state of Palestine… or a non-recognition at this point."
Peres' conversations with his fellow heads of state come as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sets off for the United Nations in New York.
Speaking at a Likud party conference ahead of his flight, Netanyahu said he is aware that he will come under heavy pressure at the United Nations.
"Tonight I am going to New York to speak at the General Assembly, meet with (U.S. President Barack) Obama and with other leaders," Netanyahu said. "I know the reception I received here is much warmer than the one I will receive at the UN, and exactly because of that I think we should go there and present our truth… of a people attacked over and over by those opposed to their very existence. That is the most basic truth."
Netanyahu said he has turned to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas several times, and offered him to meet, but Abbas declined. "I told him the road to peace goes through direct negotiations and not unilateral decisions at the UN," he said.
Netanyahu received support from opposition leader Tzipi Livni, who called upon the prime minister to initiate political negotiations with the Palestinians. "Your trip is critical for the future of Israel," said Livni, "Every move at the United Nations dangers the security and national interests of Israel, and this is avoidable."
Sources at the Palestinian government told Haaretz on Tuesday evening, following Netanyahu's comments, that "even if we start direct negotiations with Israel, it does not cancel the UN bid. We see both of these paths as complimentary, not contradictory."