Resolution passed in the United Nations, will Palestine now get full membership?

Last Updated on May 12, 2024 8:23 am

The UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling on the Security Council to grant Palestine full membership.

As a result, the General Assembly increased Palestine’s rights within the United Nations and strengthened its demand for membership.

Palestine has been a non-member observer state of the United Nations since 2012. But as a result they do not get the benefits of full membership.

But this membership issue is determined only by the UN Security Council.

The United States recently vetoed one round of their bid to become full members. But the vote at the General Assembly on Friday is seen as a sign of support for Palestine’s full membership.

Before the vote, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations Riyad H. “We want peace, we want freedom, a yes vote is a vote for the existence of Palestine, it is not against any state,” Mansoor said.

The General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to grant new rights and privileges to Palestine, and at the same time called for a reconsideration of Palestine’s claim for inclusion as the 194th member of the United Nations.

143 votes were in favor of this resolution brought by Arabs and Palestinians, and 9 countries voted against it. In addition to the United States and Israel, there are Argentina, Hungary, Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea and the Czech Republic.

Besides, 25 states abstained from voting.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed this proposal of the United Nations. He says it will support their bid for another vote in the Security Council.

In a statement, he said, Palestine will continue to strive for full membership of the United Nations.

On the other hand, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said that the organization welcomed a “terrorist state” with them.

During his speech at the session, he tore up a copy of the UN Charter – and alleged that UN members had actually done just that by passing resolutions on behalf of Palestine.

In his speech, Gilad said, “Many of you are anti-Semitic, you don’t care that Palestinians are not peace-loving. By disregarding the UN Charter, you have destroyed the UN Charter by giving membership privileges to Palestine.”

The UN passed the resolution as news emerged that several European states were planning to recognize Palestine.

Spain will do so on May 21, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told Spanish media RTVE on Thursday. Although he did not give any date before, he said that Malta, Ireland and Slovenia are also walking the same path.

Friday’s UN resolution granted Palestine additional privileges, allowing it to participate fully in any debate, propose the agenda and have its representatives in committee elections.

But they still don’t get any voting rights – the UN General Assembly doesn’t have the power to grant it, only the Security Council can approve it.

Five countries are permanent representatives of the Security Council and each of them has veto power. The remaining 10 non-permanent member states of the Council.

If a resolution is passed by the Security Council, it is put to a vote in the General Assembly, which requires a two-thirds majority.

Any draft resolution in the Security Council would require the votes of all five members – the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China and France – and a veto would block the resolution.

The issue of Palestinian statehood has divided the international community for decades.

In 1988, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the main representative of Palestine, announced the establishment of the State of Palestine.

According to Reuters, Palestinian statehood is recognized by 139 of the 193 member states of the United Nations – although this is seen in a very symbolic sense.

In reality, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has little authority over its own government in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The PA lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas in 2007. The United Nations considers both territories occupied by Israel and views them as one political entity.

Israel does not recognize the Palestinian state and the current Israeli government has been opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank. Their argument is that the establishment of such a state would threaten Israel’s existence.

The United States supports the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel – the ‘two state solution’ it sees as the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. But they say it must come only through negotiations between the two sides.

US Assistant Ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood, said on Friday that the United States will support a Palestinian state only if the two sides guarantee the security of Israel and the Palestinians to live in peace in their own state.

Last month, with the support of many countries, Algeria introduced a proposal to admit Palestine as a member state. The United States, as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, vetoed it, saying it was not yet time to do so.

Resolutions passed by the UN Security Council are legally binding, which is not the case with resolutions passed by the General Assembly.

But this vote of the General Assembly once again highlighted the global support for Palestine to become a member of the United Nations. Many countries have expressed concern over the death toll from the operation in Gaza and the renewed Israeli military operation in Rafah.

As a result, the support against Israel and in favor of Palestine is also proven by the results of the vote in the General Assembly. When a resolution for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza was tabled at the UN in October last year, it passed by a vote of 120-14, with 45 states abstaining.

But under US law, Washington will not fund any UN agency that grants statehood to someone without ‘international recognition’. When the Palestinians joined the UN as a member in 2011, the US stopped funding UNESCO.

Earlier, Gilad Erdan said that if the UN passes the resolution, he expects the US to end aid to the UN and other allied organizations.

On Thursday, 25 Republican senators — more than half of the party’s total membership in the chamber — introduced a bill that would have cut aid and tightened sanctions on anyone who supports Palestine.

However, the possibility of passing this bill in the Senate controlled by Democrat President Joe Biden is very low.