Palestinian Excitement Over UN Upgrade Builds; Israel Prepares for Defeat at Turtle Bay

Preparations are under way in Ramallah on Thursday for night-long demonstrations and victory celebrations as Palestinians follow the events at the United Nations where the General Assembly will vote to bestow non-member status on the Palestinians. Momentum continues to build in the final hours, with at least 15 European nations prepared to vote “yes” while two governments that had planned to vote against the resolution – Germany and the Czech Republic — changed course and will abstain instead. On Tuesday, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland reiterated the Obama administration’s commitment to voting “no.” The exercise is a diplomatic loss for Israel, which will see at least an implicit recognition of the state of Palestine by the UN and a majority of nations by virtue of its elevation from “entity” to “non-member state.” A number of pundits continue to argue that the Palestinian achievement will have limited significance, a view underscored by the luke-warm support from Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s outright rejection of the Palestinian UN gambit. The Israeli government had previously promised to punish the Palestinian Authority if it proceeded with its plans to seek the elevated status, but since the fighting in the Gaza Strip that ended last week, the US administration has warned Jerusalem to temper its response. Under pressure from Washington, Israel is not expected to retaliate unless the UN gambit is used as a platform for confrontation, such as the filing of war crimes cases against Israelis in the International Criminal Court. In Israel, newspapers are carrying opinions arguing that the UN issue is not a bad thing.