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“I believe,” Olmert wrote me, intending his statement to be made public, “that the Palestinian request from the United Nations is congruent with the basic concept of the two-state solution. Therefore, I see no reason to oppose it. Once the United Nations will lay the foundation for this idea, we in Israel will have to engage in a serious process of negotiations, in order to agree on specific borders based on the 1967 lines, and resolve the other issues. It is time to give a hand to, and encourage, the moderate forces amongst the Palestinians. Abu-Mazen"—an alias for Abbas—"and Salam Fayyad need our help. It's time to give it.”

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The United States, Israel's closest ally, mounted an aggressive campaign to head off the General Assembly vote. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defiantly declared Thursday that the Palestinians would have to back down from long-held positions if they ever hope to gain independence.

In a last-ditch move Wednesday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns made a personal appeal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas promising that President Barack Obama would re-engage as a mediator in 2013 if Abbas abandoned the effort to seek statehood. The Palestinian leader refused, said Abbas aide Saeb Erekat.

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Senators from both parties warned Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday that he will be putting millions of dollars of U.S. aid at risk if he goes forward with his planned statehood bid at the United Nations next week.

Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), co-authors of a Senate resolution denouncing the statehood bid, wrote to the Palestinian Authority president on Wednesday warning him that “any such efforts may cause consequences in regards to U.S. policy and foreign aid.” The resolution reaffirming the U.S. preference for a negotiated two-state solution to the long-lasting Middle East conflict passed unanimously in late June.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in announcing a Gaza cease-fire Wednesday that the United States would pursue a “comprehensive peace,” raising hopes that the Obama administration would rekindle two-state peace talks that have been frozen for the past three years over disagreements about Israeli settlements and future borders. . . . .


Palestinians, however, have grown impatient for the two-state solution that has been under negotiation since the 1970s.

Congress blocked U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority last year after Abbas sought U.N. membership, a move that was derailed by a U.S. veto threat at the Security Council. President Obama signed a waiver in April removing the block on the $192 million aid package, calling it "important to the security interests of the United States."

This time, the United States cannot veto the move because Abbas is seeking observer status, akin to that of the Vatican. Doing so could allow the Palestinians to pursue war crime charges against Israel at the U.N.'s International Criminal Court, according to some experts.

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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian people are enjoying sweeping support in the lead up to Thursday night's vote at the UN General Assembly over whether to upgrade the Palestinians' standing to non-member observer status. By Thursday morning Israel time, that support had turned into a full-on landslide, as more European nations decided to alter their positions, essentially leaving Israel to fend for itself.

Early Thursday morning, just hours before the vote -- scheduled to take place around 11:00 P.M. (Israel time) -- Germany changed its mind, deciding to abstain from voting rather than opposing the Palestinian initiative, as Israel had assumed it would.

"The decision wasn't taken lightly," Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said. "Germany shares the goal for a Palestinian state. We have campaigned for this in many ways, but the recent decisive steps towards real statehood can only be the result of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians," the German official said.

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While Obama and Congress oppose it and are doing everything in their powers to block it.
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History will show us as obstacles to peace, as our Congress and Senate are in the wrong on this situation.

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Particularly off topic with the Israel Firster's on the Right, but seeing Obama/Dems continue to allow us to be their lap dogs is disgusting..

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Heard Barak who just retired days ago probably agrees or is tired of the warmongering talks against Iran.

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At least in other countries you can have a debate & not be called anti semitic (ie Jimmy Carter) by the Firster's.

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UN vote to upgrade Palestine to Observer State-


138 Yes
9 No
41 Abstain

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And anyone who understands the geopolitics of these UN votes knows that the abstain votes are viewed essentially the same as yes votes in the eyes of the world, which is why Angela Merkel and Julia Gillard are being taken to the woodshed by what the Wall Street Journal referred to as "Jewish Donors".

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I'm also thinking the Palestinians can now take Israel to the International Criminal Courts for 'war crimes' which some of the abstaining Countries maybe would not like to see?

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Not sure why anyone but those states that voted no, would be opposed to justice for victims of violation of war crimes?

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Are you in favor of the Hamas leaders being tried as war criminals too?

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Plus, what is the UN gonna do? go in there and pluck these people out of its member nations?

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I am pretty sure any peace process is going to involve a few immunities on both sides.

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Are you in favor of the Hamas leaders being tried as war criminals too?

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