(United Nations) The members of the UN Security Council did not reach a consensus on Thursday to recommend that the Palestinians join the United Nations, announced the current president of the Council, a lack of consensus which suggests a vote shortly.
Highlighting the Israeli offensive in Gaza, the Palestinians last week revived their 2011 UN membership bid, and the Council began its formal review process within an ad hoc Council committee. , composed of the same Member States.
During the second closed-door meeting of this “committee on the admission of new members” on Thursday, “there was no consensus,” declared Maltese Ambassador Vanessa Frazier, who chairs the Council in April.
She assured that “two thirds” of the members of the Council were in favor of this full membership of the Palestinians, without naming them. But this committee can only make decisions by consensus.
This does not, however, mark the end of the Palestinian approach. Following the committee’s report, any member state of the Council can in fact put a resolution on this accession to the vote.
According to diplomatic sources, a vote could take place on April 18, at the initiative of Algeria, which represents the Arab countries within the Council.
If the Maltese ambassador suggested that such a resolution should receive the necessary nine votes out of 15, observers predict a veto from the United States.
As in 2011, the Americans believe that the UN is not the place for the recognition of a Palestinian state, which according to them should be the result of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
They also highlight a US law that plans to cut funding to the UN if the Security Council accepts a Palestinian state outside of such a bilateral agreement.
In September 2011, the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas launched the procedure requesting “the accession of the State of Palestine to the UN”, which was never completed. The Palestinians finally obtained the status of “non-member observer state” in November 2012.
“All we are asking is to take our rightful place within the community of Nations,” Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour pleaded this week.