BICOM

The UK is likely to abstain in today’s vote on a resolution at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, which looks set to recognise the Palestinian delegation as representing a ‘non-member state.’

UK government officials have expressed concern over the past several months that the resolution, which would see the status of the Palestinian UN delegation upgraded from that of a non-member ‘observer entity’ to a non-member ‘observer state’, will prove divisive in attempts to reach a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking yesterday in the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary William Hague reiterated these concerns, saying “we asked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to move a resolution at the UN General Assembly for the time being.”

However, with a vote on the resolution expected in the early hours of Friday morning, Hague announced that the UK would opt to abstain, unless the Palestinian Authority (PA) made “certain assurances or amendments.”  These include “that the Palestinian Authority should indicate a clear commitment to return immediately to negotiations without preconditions” and a pledge that the PA would not ask for the International Criminal Court in the Hague to extend its jurisdiction to the Palestinian territories, which Hague assessed at this stage “could make a return to negotiations impossible.”

The resolution is expected to be approved overwhelmingly by the UN General Assembly with Israel’s foreign ministry having reportedly estimated that at least 150 of out a 193 UN member states will support the initiative.

In a related story, despite a concerted diplomatic effort by Israel’s government to build international opposition to the Palestinian UN initiative, the country’s former-prime minister Ehud Olmert told the US website Daily Beast “I believe 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.”