The UN Votes On Palestine, and Israel Shoots Itself in the Foot JERUSALEM - Last week was not a good week for Israel, and Israel made it even worse for itself. By a vast majority, members of the United Nations - including some countries claiming to be Israel's allies - upgraded the Palestinian Authority's status to nonmember observer state. The Israeli government compounded this defeat with self-punishment by announcing that it would begin housing construction at E1, a 4.6-square-mile contested area between Jerusalem and the city of Ma'ale Adumim. The Israeli government had reason to be angry, but that's a lame excuse for shooting itself in the foot. The Palestinian Authority's unilateral move deserved a strong response. For one thing, it is unlikely to contribute to the advancement of peace. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton intimated as much soon before the vote when she warned, "We've urged both parties to refrain from actions that might in any way make a return to meaningful negotiations that focus on getting to a resolution more difficult." If anything, in going solo to pursue the new status, Palestinian leaders seemed to demonstrate their lack of interest in achieving a negotiated settlement with Israel. They might say it's a lack of faith. Now Israel is nervous about some of the "nasty" legal implications: for example, Palestinians might try to drag Israeli leaders before the International Criminal Court. And the gambit won't even get the Palestinian Authority any closer to actual statehood, despite what the Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, called its "powerful symbolism." Yet Israel overreacted. Construction at E1 would connect Ma'ale Adumim to East Jerusalem while separating Jerusalem from the West Bank. It would also complicate travel between different parts of any future Palestinian state. Proponents of the plan have an answer for this last concern: build bridges and tunnels to connect the various parts of Palestine. The Israeli government has wanted to develop E1 for almost 20 years; if it hasn't done so yet that's only because of continued opposition from Palestinians, Americans and Europeans. By pulling this old threat out of the hat, Israel invited the predictable condemnations, and then some. After the U.N. vote Clinton said of the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas that he had taken "step in the wrong direction this week," but then she added that Israel was also being difficult and had set "back the cause of a negotiated peace." Washington must have been especially frustrated with Israel since it had just stuck its neck out by casting just one of nine votes against upgrading the Palestinian Authority's status. The Israeli government had no good options, of course, and so was prone to making a mistake. It couldn't take a step that might result in the collapse of the more moderate Palestinian Authority and risk the rise of radical Hamas. It is isolated, with very few friends that support its policies toward Palestinians. And it faces elections soon, with the threat to the governing party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coming from the right - where demand for retribution against the Palestinians is high - rather than the center-left, which is weak and fractured. In the end, Israel's announcement to build at E1 was unwise. The government could have pointed to the Palestinian Authority's unilateralism to argue that it is Palestinian rejectionism that makes peace unlikely - a case that actually makes sense. Instead, it countered unilateralism with unilateralism, rejectionism with rejectionism, and made itself guilty of the same charges. What's more, given the diplomatic outcry over Israel's announcement about E1, the government will be hard pressed to execute the plan. In other words, it will have issued a threat that lets Palestinians cry foul but doesn't really scare them anymore.