Confronted with the prospect of a Palestinian bid for full U.N. membership, U.S. President Barack Obama issued a sharp rebuke yesterday to those pressing for statehood.

Hanan Ashrawi, executive committee member for the Palestine Liberation Operation, appears on American Morning today to offer her reaction to Obama's remarks and to weigh on the country's impending request for statehood.

"We do not want any delays or procrastinations in the deliberations on our membership," Ashrawi explains. "We know that the United States has been working overtime and has spent so much energy and effort trying to pressure different countries to persuade them not to vote in our favor."

Ashrawi also comments on yesterday's speech by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who called for a resolution for non-member "observer status" for Palestine as a bridge toward statehood.

"We found it extremely interesting," Ashrawi says. "We did meet with President Sarkozy and we said we would view it positively and give it positive consideration.

President Obama spoke out about the impending request by the Palestinians for statehood this week, asserting that the U.S. believes that peace between Israel and Palestine will not come through statements and resolutions at the United Nations.

Today on American Morning, Daniel Ayalon, Israeli deputy minister of foreign affairs, sits down with Carol Costello to discuss Palestine's request for statehood and to comment about how the United States is handling the situation.

When asked to comment about the fierce criticism that Obama is receiving from GOP presidential candidates, Ayalon affirms that he does not think that the president has "thrown Israel under the bus."

"It's a very heated political season here and Israel is not part of the campaign," Ayalon explains. "When it comes to Israel, I don't see a difference between Republicans and Democrats. We see only Americans."