Christians for Peace in the Middle East (CMEP) in a report has described the overwhelming United Nations General Assembly vote to upgrade the Palestinian delegation’s observer status to a “non-member observer state” as one born out of impatience with Israel's actions that "contradict the peace process.” CMEP describes how "in the weeks and days leading up to the vote, the United States and Israel looked for ways to stop it from taking place, issuing a number of threats including funding cuts, withholding tax revenue payments and increasing settlement construction."

Members of the European Union were the focus of most Israeli and Palestinian lobbying before the vote. In the end, 14 of the European Union states abstained from voting and 12 voted for the upgrade in status. Germany reportedly “shocked” the Israeli Foreign Ministry by choosing to abstain instead of opposing the resolution. Germany and Netherlands and had been expected to vote in opposition. One senior German diplomat explained that his country decided to abstain after “the Israelis did not respond in any way to our request to make a gesture on settlements.”