The UN General Assembly voted by a wide margin on Friday to grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine and called on the Security Council to favorably reconsider its application to become the 194th member of the United Nations.
The 193-member world body approved the Arab-Palestinian sponsored resolution by 143 votes in favor, nine against, and 25 abstentions.
The United States vetoed a widely supported council resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for Palestine to become a full member of the United Nations, a goal Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked hard to prevent.
Deputy US Ambassador Robert Wood made clear Thursday that President Joe Biden’s administration opposes the assembly resolution. The United States was among nine countries that voted against it, along with Israel.
“We have made it very clear from the beginning that there is a process to obtain full membership in the United Nations, and this effort by some of the Arab and Palestinian countries is to try to evade it,” Wood said Thursday. “We have said from the beginning that the best way to ensure that Palestine becomes a full member of the UN is to do so through negotiations with Israel. “That remains our position.”
The United Nations Charter states that prospective UN members must be “peace-loving,” and the Security Council must recommend their admission to the General Assembly for final approval. Palestine became a non-member observer state in 2012.
The draft resolution “determines” that a State of Palestine is eligible for membership, removing the original wording that, in the judgment of the General Assembly, it is a “peace-loving State.” Therefore, he recommends that the Security Council reconsider his request “in a favorable manner.”
The renewed push for full Palestinian membership in the United Nations comes as the war in Gaza has put the 75-year conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in the spotlight. The humanitarian crisis faced by Palestinians in Gaza and the deaths of more than 34,000 people in the territory have sparked outrage from several countries in multiple council and assembly meetings.
The original draft of the assembly resolution was significantly changed to address not only the concerns of the United States, but also those of Russia and China, said three Western diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations were held in pre-draft
The first draft would have granted Palestine “the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation” in United Nations assembly sessions and conferences “at the same level as Member States.” It made no reference to whether Palestine could vote in the General Assembly
