Britain, Germany oppose; France, Spain to support Palestinian U.N. bid UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- British Foreign Secretary William Hague said his country is likely to abstain in the U.N. vote to upgrade the Palestinians' status to non-member state. The Palestinians' current status is "permanent observer." Britain will only support an upgrade if the Palestinians commit to return immediately to the negotiating table with Israel, The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday. Up until the time of the vote itself, we will remain open to voting in favor of the resolution if we see public assurances by the Palestinians on these points. However, in the absence of these assurances, the United Kingdom would abstain on the vote," Hague said. Germany also said it would oppose the move. "Our goal in all this is to prevent further negative efforts on the already difficult Middle East peace process," German Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said. France Tuesday said it will support the Palestinian bid to become a non-member U.N. "observer state," the foreign minister said, and Spain will do the same, El Pais reported. "Thursday or Friday, when the question is asked, France will reply, 'Yes,'" Laurent Fabius told the French National Assembly Tuesday. The U.N. General Assembly in New York is to debate the issue Thursday, the 65th anniversary of the U.N. decision to partition the territory of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. Israel accepted the proposal while the Palestinians and their Arab supporters rejected it, choosing war instead. Israel will continue to honor the 1993 Oslo Accords, Haaretz said, ending the threat of punishment following the vote. Sources close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the newspaper the government -- realizing General Assembly approval is inevitable -- is seeking to describe the vote as merely technical and procedural or as a symbolic Palestinian victory devoid of diplomatic significance.