The United States has used its veto power in the Security Council to block recognition of the Palestinian Authority as a full member of the United Nations. The resolution put to the vote this Thursday by Algeria, which would have meant the recognition of the State of Palestine in the world body, has obtained the favorable vote of 12 member countries of the Council and the abstentions of the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
In this way, Palestine will maintain its status as a “non-member observer state” of the UN, which was granted to it in 2012 by the General Assembly. To become a full member, a country must receive approval from the Security Council and a two-thirds qualified majority in the Assembly.
The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, has assured before the vote that the current humanitarian situation in Gaza, which has been suffering incessant bombings by Israel for six months and where the dead already exceed 35,000, increases the urgency to recognize the State of Palestine.
“The recent escalation makes it even more necessary to support good faith efforts to find lasting peace between Israel and a fully independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian state,” he said: “Failure to move 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.
The two-state solution is the official position of the US government for the future of the region, and has been the majority vision of the Security Council for years, but it has not been enough for Washington to abstain or vote in favor of the resolution. this Thursday.
A spokesman for the US State Department, Vedant Patel, has said that Palestinian recognition must come through direct negotiation with Tel Aviv and with international mediators: “Our view remains that the quickest path to the creation of a state for “the Palestinian people go through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority with the support of the United States and other partners.”
The United States is one of five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, as established in the United Nations Charter as a result of the Yalta conference in 1945. The other four are China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom. None of them have used it, although the United Kingdom has shown alignment with the US by abstaining.
Palestine’s UN representative, Riyad Mansour, had described the resolution as an effort “to take our rightful place among the community of nations.” The Palestinian Authority’s envoy to the Security Council, Ziad Abu Amr, has asked the US representative “how could this harm the prospects for peace between Palestinians and Israelis? How could it harm this recognition and adherence to peace and security?” international?” Those who hinder the adoption of this resolution “do not help the prospects for peace in the Middle East”, he lamented.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, has assured that Palestine does not meet the necessary criteria to become a full-fledged state, such as a permanent population, a defined territory, a functional government and the ability to have relations with other states. . Palestine’s entry into the UN “will only cause destruction in the years to come, and undermine any opportunity for dialogue,” he said, stating that there is no unified voice in the country: “who do they want to give permanent member status to?” “To Hamas in Gaza? To the Palestinian Jihad?”
