Purestock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The United Nations Security Council voted against Palestinian statehood on Tuesday.
Eight of the fifteen member nations voted in favor of statehood, but the measure needed nine votes to pass. The United Kingdom, Lithuania, Nigeria, Korea and Rwanda abstained from the vote, while the U.S. and Australia voted against the measure.
The vote was strongly opposed by Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom. Still, the U.S. and U.K. did not say that they would veto the measure.
Israel has said simply voting on the possibility of Palestinian statehood would cause problems for the peace process.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said Tuesday that the measure would not have been a “constrcuctive” step, in that it would have “undermine[d] efforts to get back to an atmosphere that makes it possible to achieve two states for two people.”
Granting Palestinian statehood, she said, was giving voice to only one side of the debate.
“We voted against this resolution not because we are comfortable with the status quo,” Power concluded. “We voted against it because we know what everyone here knows, as well — peace will come from hard choices and compromises that must be made at the negotiating table.”
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