US Vetoes Palestinian Bid For Full UN Membership

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

The US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have granted Palestine status as a full UN member state, a move that goes against President Biden’s claim that he favors a two-state solution.

The US was the only member of the 15-member council to vote against the resolution, while the UK and Switzerland abstained. There were 12 votes in favor from Russia, China, France, Japan, South Korea, Ecuador, Algeria, Malta, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, and Guyana.

Palestine currently has non-member observer status at the UN, via Reuters.

A resolution needs nine votes to pass, but the US and the other four permanent members of the council — China, Russia, France, and the UK — have veto power.

Before the Thursday vote, The Intercept reported that the US was lobbying other countries to vote against the resolution so the US wouldn’t have to veto it.

The Biden administration has come under criticism for claiming to favor a peace deal that involves a two-state solution while continuing to provide unconditional military aid and diplomatic support to Israel, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated his opposition to a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu has explicitly stated that he will not allow the creation of a Palestinian state in any future scenario. “In any future arrangement … Israel needs security control all territory west of the Jordan,” he said in January. “This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do?”

The Israeli leader has also credited himself for why there is no Palestinian state. “Everyone knows that I am the one who for decades blocked the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger our existence,” he said in February.

China finds the U.S. decision to veto Palestine’s full U.N. membership bid
“most disappointing” pic.twitter.com/H3InQa2sT1

— Johannes Maria (@luo_yuehan) April 19, 2024

The opposition to a Palestinian state is not unique to Netanyahu or his coalition government. Ninety-nine out of the 120 members of the Knesset recently voted against a resolution rejecting the “unilateral” creation of a Palestinian state.