"Granting
(Additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington, Noah Browning in Ramallah, Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Michelle Nichols in New York, Robert Mueller in Prague, Gabriela Baczynska and Reuters bureau in Europe and elsewhere; Editing by Peter Cooney)
The U.N. victory for the Palestinians was a diplomatic setback for the
There were 138 votes in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions. Three countries did not take part in the vote, held on the 65th anniversary of the adoption of U.N. resolution 181 that partitioned
Thousands of flag-waving Palestinians in the
The assembly approved the upgrade despite threats by the
If the Palestinians were to join the ICC, they could file complaints with the court accusing
The much-anticipated vote came after Abbas denounced
"Sixty-five years ago on this day, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 181, which partitioned the land of historic
"The General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the State of Palestine," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded quickly, condemning Abbas' critique of
"These are not the words of a man who wants peace," Netanyahu also said in a statement released by his office. He reiterated Israeli calls for direct talks with the Palestinians, dismissing Thursday's resolution as "meaningless."
ICC THREAT
Granting Palestinians the title of "non-member observer state" falls short of full U.N. membership - something the Palestinians failed to achieve last year. But it would allow them access to the ICC and other international bodies, should they choose to join them.
Abbas did not mention the ICC in his speech. But Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told reporters after the vote that if
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