(JTA) — The United Nations Security Council could not arrive at a consensus on the Palestinians’ statehood bid, a draft report from the panel reportedly says.
The four-page report by the committee on admitting new member states, sent Tuesday to all 15 Security Council members, said the committee cannot make a unanimous recommendation to the Security Council, according to Reuters, which said it obtained a copy of the report.
The members are divided into those that support the bid, those who are abstaining because they cannot support it at this time, and those who oppose it on the basis of the application not meeting the appropriate criteria.
It is believed that the Palestinians do not have the nine votes they need in order to have the application approved. The United States has threatened to use its veto should the Palestinians receive enough votes.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the British Parliament Wednesday that the United Kingdom would abstain on the statehood bid, a day after France said that it would abstain.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas applied to the United Nations for full membership for the state of Palestine on Sept. 23.
The Security Council is scheduled to debate the report on Friday, when the report is formally presented.
