On Thursday, the United States thwarted a bold Palestinian attempt for complete United Nations admission, vetoing a Security Council proposal despite escalating global concern regarding the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The decision by Israel’s key backer was expected before the vote, coming after more than half a year of Israel’s military campaign in the beleaguered Palestinian area, in response to the lethal October 7 assault by Hamas fighters in southern Israel.
The draft resolution advocating for full Palestinian membership received approval from twelve nations. However, Britain and Switzerland opted to abstain from voting.
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas’s office called the US veto “a blatant aggression… which pushes the region ever further to the edge of the abyss.”
“The fact that this resolution did not pass will not break our will, and it will not defeat our determination,” Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said, in tears.
“We will not stop in our effort. The state of Palestine is inevitable. It is real.
“Please remember that once this session adjourns, in Palestine there are innocents paying the price with their lives… for the delay in justice, freedom and peace,” he added, as others in the room also cried.
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The draft resolution called for recommending to the General Assembly “that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations” in place of its current “non-member observer state” status, which it has held since 2012.
Despite the US veto, Ambassador Amar Bendjama of Algeria, which introduced the draft, said the resolution’s “overwhelming” support “sends a crystal clear message” that the Palestinians belong as a full member state and that their backers “will return stronger and more vocal.”
Before a nation can attain UN membership, it must garner a nod from the Security Council, requiring a minimum of nine affirmatives out of the fifteen votes, free from any veto, and then secure backing from a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly.
Israel’s primary ally, the United States, has historically employed its veto authority to safeguard Israel’s interests and made no secret of its lukewarm stance on Palestinian UN membership in the run-up to the vote.
The United States has maintained its position, affirming that the UN is not the appropriate forum for recognizing a Palestinian state, stressing that such recognition should emerge from a bilateral peace agreement with Israel.
“The United States continues to strongly support the two-state solution,” US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said after the vote Thursday.
“This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgement that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties.”
Israel strongly criticized the statehood proposal, with UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan arguing that the abundance of “yes” votes only serves to embolden Palestinians to circumvent negotiations and renders the prospect of peace nearly unattainable.
“Speaking to this council is like speaking to a brick wall,” he said.
Israel’s government opposes a two-state solution, the outcome supported by most of the international community.
Palestinian records indicate that a significant majority of the UN’s 193 member nations—specifically 137—have unilaterally recognized the sovereignty of a Palestinian state.