The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the de facto recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the world body to issue its long overdue “birth certificate.” There were 138 votes in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions. Three countries did not take part in the vote…
The Palestinian Authority is expected to win an upgrade of its observer status at the United Nations on Thursday from “entity” to “non-member state,” which would amount to implicit U.N. recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been leading the campaign to win support for a U.N. General Assembly resolution…
A U.N. General Assembly vote on Thursday recognising a Palestinian state will do nothing to make it a reality in practice, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “no matter how many hands are raised against us”. Despite its fierce opposition to the Palestinian bid to become a “non-member state” at the United Nations, Israel seems…
The U.N. General Assembly is set to implicitly recognize a sovereign state of Palestine on Thursday despite threats by the United States and Israel to punish the Palestinian Authority by withholding much-needed funds for the West Bank government. A Palestinian resolution that would change the Palestinian Authority’s U.N. observer status from “entity” to “non-member state,”…
The last days of November 2012 were an awkward time for Israel in the international arena. After years of presenting itself as the reasonable party in the conflict, saddled with a Palestinian negotiating partner that won’t negotiate, its ruling Likud party wound up a two-day Knesset primary vote on November 26 by choosing a slate…
The announcement, made by Laurent Fabius, France’s foreign minister, that his government will support the Palestinian Authority’s bid for “non-member observer status” at the United Nations next week is hardly news, but nevertheless newsworthy. The news, of course, has been in the offing for quite some time. France’s Socialist Party, which has historically enjoyed closer…
More European states joined France on Wednesday in backing a Palestinian bid for limited statehood, but Britain held back, saying it wanted an assurance that the Palestinians would not pursue Israel through the International Criminal Court. Germany said it was opposing the diplomatic upgrade for the Palestinians at the United Nations, joining Israel and the…
I rather doubt that more than a few of those whose knees have jerked in opposition to the planned request by the PLO that its status at the United Nations be upgraded have actually read the resolution. Instead, they rely on Israel’s bitter opposition and on America’s predictable opposition. Israel has ludicrously announced that if…
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