Row erupts over Palestine vote

A United Nations vote has given Palestine non-member observer state status. Source: Herald Sun

A WAR of words has broken out over Australia's decision to abstain from a United Nations vote giving Palestine non-member observer state status.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr said the vote would encourage peace talks, while Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said it should have been voted down until Palestine accepted Israel's right to security.

And the Greens argued the Federal Government was out of step with the world.

The UN resolution was approved overnight yesterday by more than two-thirds of the 193-member world body - a vote of 138-9.

There were 41 abstentions, including Australia, and fierce opposition from the US and Israel.

The vote was a major diplomatic win for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah, following rival Hamas's recent bloody exchanges with Israel in Gaza.

Senator Carr said it was hoped Palestine's improved status - from observer to non-member observer state at the UN - would be a fillip for renewed peace talks.

Despite intense pressure from the US and Israel to vote against elevating Palestine's status, he said Australia had "respectfully disagreed" on the ballot.

"We have a separate foreign policy," Senator Carr said.

"We did it as a nation committed absolutely to the right of Israel to survive and the right of Israel to defend itself.

"We did so as a nation that urges both sides not to exploit and not to overreact to this vote at the UN."

But he said Australia abstained as a "friend of Israel more than a little impatient with the settlement activity, which is making the two-state solution more difficult and more complex".

Australian Greens leader Christine Milne said she was disappointed Australia was not part of the "overwhelming global consensus" that supported the Palestinian bid.

Israel had argued the increased status was an attempt to bypass peace negotiations and it threatened to add legitimacy to an entity whose Hamas leaders had vowed to destroy Israel.

The result was met by jubilant crowds in the West Bank, where hundreds gathered in Ramallah's main square, waving flags and chanting "God is great".

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