Britain has followed the lead of the United States in rejecting the language of the Jordanian resolution presented to the U.N. Security Council that calls on Israel to sign on the dotted line with the Palestinian Authority within a year and get out of half of Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria within three years.
British U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told reporters Tuesday there are ”difficulties” with the text, but he did not say if Britain would veto the resolution if it musters the needed two-thirds majority to pass.
In the event that the resolution passes, Britain could take the heat off by joining it in a veto, if Washington does so.
So far, the U.S. State Dept. is being cagey, saying it will oppose the resolution without going one step further and vowing to veto it
President Barack Obama would prefer that the resolution not pass, getting him off the hook by not having to exercise a veto.
The Palestinian Authority will have a better chance at winning the two-thirds majority after January 1 when more pro-Arab countries take a rotating slot on the Council, but the British decision could sway others or at least influence them to abstain.
Grant said Tuesday, “There’s some difficulties with the text, particularly language on time scales, new language on refugees. So I think we would have some difficulties.”