The Palestinian demand for a UN observer force in the West Bank and Gaza was defeated in the Security Council when the United States, Russia and other key countries abstained, arguing it could jeopardize upcoming Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Palestinian supporters on the 15-member council demanded vote on Monday, knowing in advance that they had to face an almost certain defeat or a US veto.

Behind-the-scenes efforts to persuade the Palestinians to ditch the resolution and agree to a non-binding press statement supporting an end to the violence and the new round of peace talks failed.

In the end, the United States didn`t have to exercise its veto rights because the resolution failed to muster the minimum nine ‘Yes votes’ in the council. Only eight council members supported the resolution - Bangladesh, China, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mali, Namibia, Tunisia, and Ukraine. Seven council members abstained - Argentina, Britain, Canada, France, Netherlands, Russia, United States.

For more than a month, Palestinian supporters on the council from the non-aligned movement of developing countries tried to mobilize support for 2,000 unarmed UN observers to be sent to the middle east to help stop the recent violence and protect Palestinian civilians. But Israel remained opposed to any Palestinian attempt to internationalize the current dispute, insisting that bilateral negotiations are the only way to achieve peace. And the United States, Russia and several other countries objected to the council authorizing a force that Israel does not accept. With Israeli and Palestinian negotiators heading to Washington for a new round of peace talks starting today, the United States and other key council members said that the timing was wrong to vote for a UN force.


“There`s no point in driving the car into a brick wall just because it makes a nice noise,” said Britain`s UN Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock.

The Palestinians said that they called for a Security Council vote on Monday before they even knew about the negotiations.


Asked before the vote whether he was prepared for defeat as well as victory, Al-Kidwa said, “we have to face realities, don`t we?” After the vote, he said, “It`s a sad day for the Security Council.”


Israel`s UN Ambassador Yehuda Lancry called the resolution, a recipe for long-term instability in the region and said that the negotiations in Washington made it unnecessary.


“We welcome the renewal of the negotiations, and there is a real chance through the negotiations maybe to resolve outstanding issues - including the issue of the international presence,” he said, adding that it was really superfluous to have a vote.


Stressing that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had the power to end the violence, Lancry said that the Palestinians are not in need of protection from Israel, but rather from the misguided policies of their own leaders.


Bureau Report