Debate at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday centered on the question of whether to approve a resolution recommending that Palestine be admitted as a full member of the body, recognition of statehood long sought by the Palestinians.
But in Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said the resolution was dead as soon as it was introduced: the United States, which has veto power, would vote against it.
The 15-member council is still scheduled to vote later in the day on a draft resolution recommending that the General Assembly “admit the State of Palestine as a Member of the United Nations.”
Washington has long insisted that a negotiated deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to recognize Palestinian statehood is necessary to end the two countries’ 75-year conflict.
Security Council resolutions require at least nine votes in favor to pass, and the five permanent members – the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China – are not allowed to cast a veto.
During the morning debate, senior Palestinian official Ziad Abu Amr questioned US opposition to Palestinian statehood, asking: “How could such recognition and membership undermine international peace and Safety?”
Mr. Abu Amr noted that Israel itself was established through United Nations resolutions, not through negotiations with Arab states. He was referring to Resolution 181, which called for the division of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state. Passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1947.
The Palestinian effort to gain full membership of the United Nations comes six months after Hamas-led terror attacks on Israeli towns sparked a devastating war in Gaza. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. At the same time, Israel is also expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank.
In 1949, Israel was admitted as a full member of the United Nations.
In 2012, Palestine was granted the lower status of a non-member observer state. It tried to gain full membership last year but failed to get the votes of at least nine of the 15-member Security Council.
The U.S. State Department confirmed on Thursday that the United States would deny Palestine’s renewed application.
“The United States continues to believe that the quickest path to statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, with the support of the United States and other partners,” State Department spokesperson Patel told reporters. In the News at the press conference.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, on Thursday also condemned Palestine’s renewed bid for statehood, calling it a “terrible prize.”
