The United Nations Security Council is set for a landmark vote on Friday regarding a Palestinian bid for full U.N. membership, a move anticipated to be met with opposition from the United States, a staunch ally of Israel, as it would effectively acknowledge a Palestinian state.
Scheduled for 3 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Friday, the 15-member council will deliberate on a draft resolution proposing that “the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations,” according to diplomats.
For the resolution to pass, it needs a minimum of nine affirmative votes, without any vetoes from the United States, Britain, France, Russia, or China. Diplomatic sources suggest that the proposal could garner support from as many as 13 council members, thereby necessitating the U.S. to exercise its veto power.
Algeria, a council member, initially sought a vote for Thursday afternoon to align with a Security Council session on the Middle East, anticipated to be attended by several ministers.
However, the United States has maintained that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state should be achieved through direct negotiations between the concerned parties, rather than through the United Nations.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, remarked on Wednesday, “We do not see that doing a resolution in the Security Council will necessarily get us to a place where we can find … a two-state solution moving forward.”
Currently, the Palestinians hold the status of a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood granted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2012. However, to attain full U.N. membership, approval from the Security Council and at least two-thirds of the General Assembly is imperative.
The U.N. Security Council has long endorsed the vision of two states coexisting peacefully within secure and recognized borders. Palestinians aspire for a state encompassing the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, territories seized by Israel in 1967.
Despite the signing of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the early 1990s, little headway has been made towards realizing Palestinian statehood.
The Palestinian pursuit of full U.N. membership unfolds against the backdrop of a six-month conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza, coupled with Israel’s expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
