by Ben Cohen, algemeiner.com, Dec. 30, 2014

The UN Security Council has rejected a resolution that would have compelled Israel to agree to a final peace deal with the Palestinians twelve months from now, with a further deadline in the form of a full withdrawal from the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem by 2017.

The United States and temporary UNSC member Australia were the only two states that voted against the resolution, submitted by Jordan after the text was agreed with the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League.

Votes in favor included France, Russia and China, along with temporary members Argentina, Chad, Chile, Jordan and Luxembourg.

The four remaining states – the UK, along with temporary members Lithuania, Nigeria, the Republic of Korea and Rwanda – abstained.

The Palestinians had claimed earlier on Tuesday that the nine votes needed to pass the latest version of the statehood resolution were in their grasp. Had this been the case, the US would very likely have used its veto to block the resolution.

Tonight’s failure for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is unlikely to mark the end of his unilateralist strategy. Among the measures which the Palestinians threatened to take in the event of the resolution’s rejection are applications to join numerous international organisations and conventions as a member state, including possibly signing the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.