United Nations
UN: Disagreement over full membership for Palestinians
The United Nations is arguing in New York about full membership for Palestine. photo
© John Minchillo/AP/dpa
The Palestinians are again seeking full membership in the United Nations. Her application has already cleared the first hurdle, but it could now fail at the second.
A UN Security Council committee has failed to come up with a joint response to a renewed request for full membership for a state of Palestine United Nations can agree. Two thirds of the members supported the motion, five had objections, said Malta’s UN ambassador, Vanessa Frazier, who currently chairs the responsible committee, after a meeting in New York.
It would disseminate a report on this among the members of the Security Council as soon as possible. It is unlikely that the committee will then recommend a vote on the proposal in the Security Council. Nevertheless, any member state of the body could introduce a corresponding resolution at any time.
Algeria plans to do this next week, diplomatic sources said. However, such a resolution would most likely fail because of the US – Israel’s closest ally with veto power in the Security Council. The US and others have previously wanted the Palestinians to make peace with Israel before UN membership.
Israel is against the admission of Palestine
According to the review, at least nine of the 15 Security Council members would have to vote for it to be successful, and the permanent council members China, France, Russia, Great Britain and the USA are not allowed to veto it. If successful, the proposal would then be referred to the UN General Assembly for a vote, where a two-thirds majority would then be required. Israel had already spoken out vehemently against admitting Palestine.
Last week, Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour asked UN Secretary-General António Guterres to resubmit the request to the Security Council in a letter. The Security Council then referred the application to the committee for review at the beginning of the week. The more formal step of re-examining the application from 2011 was seen as at least a stage victory for the Palestinians.
In November 2011, the application for full UN membership failed at the Security Council. A year later, the United Nations granted observer status to the Palestinians despite US opposition. Of the 193 UN member states, 139 have so far recognized Palestine as an independent state. Germany is not one of them.