The United States put an end to the Palestinians' tiny hope of full membership in the United Nations on Thursday April 18, vetoing it during a vote in the Security Council, in the midst of the war in Gaza.
For several weeks, the Palestinians - who since 2012 have had the lower status of
"non-member observer state" -
as well as the Arab countries, have implored the Council to accept that a
"Palestinian state",
already recognized by the majority capitals, takes its
“legitimate”
place within the United Nations.
“Granting Palestine full membership in the United Nations would alleviate part of the historical injustice suffered by generations of Palestinians
,” Ziad Abou Amr, senior official of the Palestinian Authority, argued before the Council on Thursday.
In vain. The United States, which did everything to delay the vote, did not hesitate to use its right of veto, which it regularly uses to protect its Israeli ally. The draft resolution presented by Algeria, which
“recommends to the General Assembly that the State of Palestine be admitted as a member of the United Nations”
, received 12 votes for, 1 against and 2 abstentions (United Kingdom and Switzerland ).
“A failure to act would be a serious and unforgivable error. Not waking up today would allow the continuation of injustice and impunity, an eternal shame
,” said Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama just before the vote.
“A peaceful state, what a joke!”
But the admission of a State to the UN must receive a positive recommendation from the Council (at least 9 votes out of 15 in favor, without veto from a permanent member), then be approved by the General Assembly, by majority two-thirds. The United States has repeatedly repeated in recent weeks that its position
“has not changed”
since 2011, when the membership request presented by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas fell through in the face of American opposition, even before reaching the Council stage. They 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 emphasize that American legislation would require them to cut their funding to the UN in the event of Palestinian accession outside of such a bilateral agreement.
The Israelis also virulently denounced the Palestinian initiative, criticizing the simple fact that the Council is examining a request that their UN ambassador Gilad Erdan deemed
“immoral”
.
“A peaceful state, what a joke!”
, he said, in reference to the UN Charter which stipulates that one of the conditions of membership is to be a
“peaceful”
state . The Israeli government opposes the two-state solution, supported by a large majority of the international community, including the United States. And the majority of the 193 UN member states (137 according to the Palestinian Authority's count) unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.
The last veto of a state's membership in the UN dates back to 1976, when the Americans blocked entry into Vietnam.