Palestine repeats request for full UN membership
Palestine’s requests for full membership in the UN Security Council was renovated on April 2nd by Palestinian supporters, according to Arab News and agencies.
This is not the first time Palestine has called for recognition. In 2011 President Mahmoud Abbas submitted the Palestinian Authority’s application to the UN. However, the request was rejected as the motion did not receive the required support of nine countries out of the fifteen members of the Security Council.
Furthermore, the United States, Israel’s strongest ally, had maintained a neutral stance, consistently vetoing any council resolutions that promoted Palestinian membership, as it believed that full UN membership should be granted after the negotiation of a peace agreement between the two warring parties.
This time, the supporters of the Palestinian cause sent a letter to the council president, which contained a list of 140 countries that have already recognised the legitimacy of a Palestinian state. Said list includes members of various international organisations such as the 22-nation Arab Group at the UN, the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the 120-member Nonaligned Movement.
READ: Tebboune calls for UN to grant Palestine full membership
On November 24th, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi called for the institution of a Palestinian state, claiming “recognition of the State of Palestine by the international community and its integration into the United Nations… This would be a sign of seriousness.”
However, on January 19th, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel’s clear stance regarding the matter. As a matter of fact, in a call with President Biden, the Prime Minister “reiterated his policy that after Hamas is destroyed Israel must retain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, a requirement that contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty.”
In response to Netanyahu’s statement, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps expressed disappointment at Netanyahu’s lack of belief in a two-state solution, as the EU seems to believe that peace will only be achieved through the institution of a sovereign Palestinian state.
Nevertheless, the US might once again interfere with the demand as Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood maintained that the country will reiterate its policy. “Our position has not changed”, he stated
Arab News and agencies
