UN General Assembly votes for Palestine status upgrade

PanARMENIAN.Net - The UN General Assembly has voted to recognize Palestine as a non-member observer state - a move strongly opposed by Israel and the U.S., BBC News reported.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the assembly the vote was the "last chance to save the two-state solution" with Israel.

Israel's envoy to the UN said the bid pushed peace process "backwards", while the U.S. said the move was "unfortunate".

The assembly voted 138-9 in favor, with 41 nations abstaining.

Hundreds of Palestinians celebrated on the streets of Ramallah, in the West Bank, after the result was announced.

But Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau called the vote "meaningless", and said that Mr Abbas' address in New York had not been "the words of a man who wants peace".

"Sixty-five years ago on this day, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 181, which partitioned the land of historic Palestine into two states and became the birth certificate for Israel," Abbas said shortly before the vote in New York. "The General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the State of Palestine."

Speaking after the vote, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, urged the Palestinians and Israel to resume direct peace talks and warned against unilateral actions.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the vote "unfortunate and counter-productive", saying it put more obstacles on the path to peace.

"By going to the UN, the Palestinians have violated the agreements with Israel and Israel will act accordingly," said the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Twitter.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also called for more talks, saying the resolution underscored the need to resume meaningful peace negotiations.

The UK abstained from the vote, as did Germany. The Czech Republic, Canada, the Marshall Islands and Panama were among the nations voting with the US and Israel.