Israel Matzav

Security Council deadlocked over 'Palestinians'

As some of you might have figured out, I totally collapsed last night. The 'overnight music video' was actually cannibalized from what was supposed to be a 1:59 am post that never went up (this post) because it was specifically appropriate to last night. It happens....

The US may never have to exercise that veto in the UN Security Council over the 'Palestinian' bid for unilateral 'statehood.' That's because the bid does not have nine votes in the current council, and is less likely to have them in the next one.

A draft report by a key UN Security Council committee, obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, declared that members could not reach consensus on whether Palestine should be accepted as a UN member state.

"The committee was unable to make a unanimous recommendation to the Security Council," said the draft report of the council's committee on admitting new member states.

It was circulated to all 15 Security Council members on Tuesday.

The four-page draft appears to confirm that the Palestinian move to join the world body as a full member, which Western envoys said was doomed from the outset due to a US vow to veto it if it ever came to a vote in the council, is set to fail due to the council's unresolvable deadlock.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas applied for full UN membership for the state of Palestine on Sept. 23.

The Palestinians can still call for a vote in the Security Council, but diplomats say it is not clear whether they will do so given that Washington will likely not need to use its veto to block it.

The Palestinians would score a moral victory and force Washington to cast its veto if they are able to muster nine votes to support them in the council. A council resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes to pass.

But UN diplomats say the Palestinians have so far secured only eight backers.

Heh.

Labels: Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Unilateral declaration of independence (UDI), United Nations Security Council

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:03 AM