US Vetoes Palestinian Bid to Gain Statehood At The United Nations

The United States on Thursday vetoed the UN bid to recognise a Palestinian state by casting a vote in opposition in the Security Council, denying Palestinians full membership of the world body.

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 UN. Notably, the United Kingdom and Switzerland abstained. Meanwhile, the remaining 12 council members voted yes.

Two-state solution

“The United States continues to strongly support a two-state solution. This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties,” Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood told the council.  Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the U.S. veto in a statement as “unfair, unethical, and unjustified.”

Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour, at times emotional, told the council after the vote: “The fact that this resolution did not pass will not break our will and it will not defeat our determination. We will not stop in our effort.” The Palestinian push for full U.N. membership came six months into a war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the U.N. considers to be illegal.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz commended the United States for casting a veto. Addressing the 12 council members who voted in favor of the draft resolution, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan said: “It’s very sad because your vote will only embolden Palestinian rejectionism even more and make peace almost impossible.”

History

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 UN Security Council has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders.

Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in 1967. “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,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council earlier on Thursday.

(With agency inputs)