The US yesterday effectively stopped the United Nations from recognising a Palestinian state by casting a veto in the Security Council to deny the Palestinian Authority full membership of the world body.
The US says an independent Palestinian state should be established through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and not through UN action.
It vetoed a draft resolution that recommended to the 193-member UN General Assembly that “the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations.” Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the remaining 12 council members voted yes.
The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the UN General Assembly in 2012. But an application to become a full UN member needs to be approved by the Security Council and then at least two-thirds of the General Assembly.
The Palestinian push for full UN membership comes six months into a war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“Recent escalations make it even more important to support good-faith efforts to find lasting peace between Israel and a fully independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian state,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council earlier yesterday.
“Failure to make progress towards a two-State solution will only increase volatility and risk for hundreds of millions of people across the region, who will continue to live under the constant threat of violence,” he said.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said Palestinians failed to meet the criteria to become a full UN member, which he outlined as: a permanent population, defined territory, government, and capacity to enter relations with other states.
“Who is the council voting to ‘recognise’ and give full membership status to? Hamas in Gaza? The Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Nablus? Who?” Erdan asked the Security Council.
He said granting full UN membership to Palestinians “will have zero positive impact for any party, that will cause only destruction for years to come, and harm any chance for future dialogue.”
The UN Security Council has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognised borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in 1967.
The Palestinian Authority, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank. Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority from power in Gaza in 2007.
Ziad Abu Amr, special envoy of Abbas, earlier asked the US: “How could this damage the prospects of peace between Palestinians and Israelis? How could this recognition and this membership harm international peace and security?”
“Those who are trying to disrupt and hinder the adoption of such a resolution ... are not helping the prospects of peace between Palestinians and Israelis and the prospects for peace in the Middle East in general,” he told the Security Council.
Abu Amr said full Palestinian UN membership was not an alternative for serious political negotiations to implement a two-state solution and resolve pending issues, adding: “However, this resolution will grant hope to the Palestinian people hope for a decent life within an independent state.”
Meanwhile during a virtual meeting earlier, senior US officials raised concerns with their Israeli counterparts about Israel’s plans for military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, and the two sides also discussed Iran’s drone-and-missile strike on Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s representatives agreed “to take these concerns into account” for any military action in Rafah, the White House said, amid heightened fears of the threat of regional war in the Middle East.
President Joe Biden has urged Israel not to launch a large-scale offensive in Rafah to avoid more Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza, where Palestinian health authorities say more than 33,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault.
The war in Gaza was triggered by an October 7 cross-border attack by Hamas, who killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages according to Israeli tallies.
The talks were a follow-up to a similar meeting held on April 1. That session concluded with tensions high and the two sides were far apart in their positions, according to source familiar with the matter.
The US has been pressing Israel not to conduct a broad offensive in Rafah that would add to an increased civilian death toll but instead take a more targeted approach.
US officials reportedly told the Israelis at the first meeting that their planning for Rafah was insufficient for evacuating and protecting the more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there, the last part of the enclave Israeli troops had not invaded in force.
A White House readout of yesterday’s meeting said Rafah was the focus of discussion along with Iran.
The discussion began in a small group format “to discuss the Iran attack and the collective efforts to further enhance Israel’s defense through advanced capabilities as well as co-operation with a broad coalition of military partners,” the White House said.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who led the US delegation, also briefed the Israelis on new sanctions and other measures against Iran in co-ordination with G7 governments, the White House said.
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