U.S. Stops UN from Recognizing a Palestinian State Through Membership
Editor
19 April 2024 13:23 WIB
TEMPO.CO, United States - The United States (U.S.) on Thursday, April 18, effectively stopped the United Nations from recognizing a Palestinian state by casting a veto in the Security Council to deny Palestinians full membership of the world body.
It vetoed a draft resolution that recommended to the 193-member U.N. General Assembly that "the State of Palestine be admitted to membership" of the U.N. Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the remaining 12 council members voted yes.
"The United States continues to strongly support a two-state solution. This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties," Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood told the council.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the U.S. veto in a statement as "unfair, unethical, and unjustified."
Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour, at times emotional, told the council after the vote: "The fact that this resolution did not pass will not break our will and it will not defeat our determination. We will not stop in our effort."
The Palestinian push for full U.N. membership came six months into a war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the U.N. considers to be illegal.
Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz commended the United States for casting a veto.
Addressing the 12 council members who voted in favor of the draft resolution, Israel's U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan said: "It's very sad because your vote will only embolden Palestinian rejectionism even more and make peace almost impossible."
'START WITH GAZA'
The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2012. But an application to become a full U.N. member needs to be approved by the Security Council and then at least two-thirds of the General Assembly.
