There has been a lot said about Germany's stand to remain neutral on the recent referendum on Palestine as a non-voting member of the United Nations General Assembly. It has apparently created friction between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

While Israel was expecting its close ally to vote "No", but Germany abstained from voting instead. It has been further claimed that Germany's decision was based on the fact that Israel is going to construct some 3,000 settlements in East Jerusalem. Nonetheless, Germany's stance is being taken as they favored all other members of the European Union who backed the Palestinian bid.

It is to be noted that among 193 U. N. member states, some 138 supported Palestinian Authority's bid, which has not gone down well with Israel. In addition, 40 chose not to vote, while nine countries voted No.

It is believed that this stance has somewhat put Israel's government in a tight spot. If close sources are to be believed, Merkel was irked with Israeli government's "tactical maneuvering" of pushing other E. U. members against voting for Palestinian's favor.

However, it is being asserted that there would be no affect on Netanyahu in terms of the settlement construction issue in this context.