MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Palestine denied UN full membership through US veto

Palestine should not be admitted into the UN as long as Hamas controls Gaza, Wood argued

The United States exercised its veto power Thursday within the United Nations Security Council to cut Palestine short from full statehood and membership, it was reported in New York. Hence Palestine remained a “permanent observer state” with no voting rights within the global organization.

However, Thursday's voting forced countries that had remained ambiguous about the ongoing crisis with Israel to take sides. President Joseph Biden's administration was left alone as Algeria's motion put forward on behalf of the Arab Group, received 12 votes in favor (including those from France, Japan, Korea, and Ecuador) and 2 abstentions (the United Kingdom and Switzerland).

It was the fourth time since the Oct. 7 attack by the terrorist group Hamas that the United States has used its veto in favor of Israel. On the three previous occasions, the US had opposed resolutions calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza implicitly denying Israel's right to defend itself, or arguing that a truce would only serve to rearm the pro-Palestine rogue organization.

Both Israel and the United States agree that the proclamation of a Palestinian state should be the result of bilateral negotiations and not imposed unilaterally.

However, Palestinian envoy Ziad Abu Amr recalled that it was through Resolution 181 that Israel joined the United Nations as a full state in 1948. Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN insisted that the Palestinian Authority was “not deterred in our pursuit for Palestinian freedom and independence.”

US Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs Robert Wood argued that Palestine should not be admitted into the UN as long as Hamas controls Gaza as Washington continues to support the 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,” he said through a statement.

Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan argued that the resolution was “disconnected [from] the reality on the ground” and would have had “zero positive effect for any party.” He agreed that “a terror-supporting entity that does not deserve any status in the UN.”