On Thursday, April 18, the United States cast a veto, forcing the Security Council to reject Palestine’s request for membership of the United Nations.
Earlier this month, the UN Security Council referred Palestine’s application to a specialized committee, thus advancing its request for UN membership.
Currently, Palestine holds the status of Permanent Observer non-member state in the UN General Assembly, a position it only shares with the Holy See.
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Permanent Observers have access to most meetings and documents but lack the ability to vote on or propose resolutions.
In order for Palestine to achieve full membership, a draft resolution would need to be adopted by the Security Council, that would recommend the General Assembly to hold a vote to allow Palestine to join.
The draft resolution, that the Council voted on this Thursday, was, according to UN News, one of the shortest in its history, stating simply:
“The Security Council, having examined the application of the State of Palestine for admission to the United Nations (S/2011/592), recommends to the General Assembly that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership in the United Nations.”
The proposal was submitted by Algeria, who voted in favor of it alongside France, Guyana, Slovenia, South Korea, Japan, China, Ecuador, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Russia, and Malta. The United Kingdom and Switzerland abstained from voting. The US was the only negative vote.
After the vote, the Palestinian representative stated, “We don’t want to replace anyone, we want to enter your club as an equal,” while also reiterating multiple times that, “We will not disappear.”
The representative of Israel thanked the US and President Joe Biden, before turning his frustration to the rest of the council, saying, “Most of you decided to reward Palestinian terror with [a] Palestinian State,” comparing speaking to the Council with speaking to a brick wall.