Palestinians moved one step closer to statehood last week when the United Nations General Assembly voted to upgrade the status of the Palestinian Authority from "nonmember observer entity" to "nonmember observer state." There was little time for them to savor the diplomatic victory, however: Israel responded with the announcement that it would expand settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Plainly symbolic victories are no substitute for the hard slog of direct negotiations with Israel to forge a real peace.
The vote last week was overwhelming: 138 of the General Assembly's 193 voters backed the change in status, Japan among them. Nine votes opposed the motion: Israel, the United States, the Czech Republic, Canada, Panama, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau and Nauru. Forty-one members abstained.