Abbas told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon he would press ahead with plans to ask on September 17 for a Security Council vote on Palestinian membership. Washington has threatened to veto any such move.

Ban told Abbas he would forward on to the Security Council any application submitted, and called for the Israelis and the Palestinians to resume talks "within a legitimate and balanced framework," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

The Palestinian crisis has overshadowed this week's meeting of the UN General Assembly and sparked hectic talks aimed at averting a confrontation which carries risks for the Palestinians, Israel and the US.

Senior diplomats from the US, Russia, the European Union and the UN -- the so-called Quartet of Middle East mediators -- are meeting throughout the week in hopes of finding a way forward.

The Quartet has for months been trying to put together guidelines for future peace talks, thus far without result.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to launch direct negotiations, but has not made any concession on key issues that the Palestinians say prevent the talks from resuming.

Abbas, speaking to reporters on his plane to New York, acknowledged it could have repercussions for his Palestinian Authority, the fragile government-in-waiting which depends on international financial aid for its survival in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.