Defense establishment officials said Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority is orchestrating a diplomatic campaign with the international community to coerce Israel into accepting a political arrangement which would pave the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Military Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin, Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin and other top defense officials told ministers during a briefing at the political-security cabinet that the Palestinian Authority is trying to push Israel into a settlement "from above" by drawing in the international community.

The current calm in the West Bank and the Palestinian Authority's crackdown on violence there has prompted to international community to demand Israel advance the political process, said the officials.

"The Palestinians want to continue to build their state from below and at the same time to work with the United States and the European Union to force Israel into an arrangement from above," Yadlin and Diskin told the ministers.

"A vacuum has been created due to the stalled peace process into which a number of different states are putting their own initiatives, none of which are in Israel's favor," they said. "The fact that the United States has also reached a dead-end in its efforts only worsens the problem.

During the briefing, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lambasted the Palestinian Authority for its campaign, saying: "There cannot be a real solution to the Palestinian issue without negotiations with Israel."