The United Nations Security Council is preparing to vote on a recent Palestinian Authority application for full membership.
Reuters reports, citing several diplomatic sources, that the 15-member Security Council is scheduled to convene for a vote at 3 pm this Friday on a draft resolution aimed at elevating the Palestinian Authority’s observer status, which was initially granted in 2012, to that of a full state member. Should the motion pass, it would then proceed to the full UN General Assembly for a vote.
In a letter sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres requesting that the application be reconsidered, PA UN envoy Riyad Mansour claimed that 137 of the 193 UN member states already recognize a Palestinian state.
For the resolution to pass, it needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, or China. As per Reuters, the measure could have the support of up to 13 council members which would force the US to use its veto powers. Despite the current lukewarm relationship between the White House and Israel, the US has already indicated that it would veto the motion.
Israel’s UN Envoy, Gilad Erdan, has adamantly rejected the Palestinian membership request, stating in mid-April that the deliberations were “already a victory for genocidal terror.”
“The Security Council is deliberating granting the perpetrators and supporters of October 7 full membership status in the UN,” he said.
