The UN Security Council on Monday asked its membership committee to review the Palestinian Authority’s application to be made a full member state of the United Nations. The PA is currently a non-member observer state like the Vatican.
The application, which coincided with six months of Israel’s war on Gaza, revives a longstanding bid. Malta’s UN ambassador Vanessa Frazier, the UNSC’s current president, said on Monday that the body would make a formal decision in April.
Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour said that all Palestine wants is to be treated as “equals to other nations and states”. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, and a state of near-famine prevails over large parts of the besieged Palestinian territory.
At the General Assembly, Ambassador Dr. Riyad Mansour reiterates that all we ask for is our rightful place among nations and to be treated as equals 🇵🇸🇺🇳 pic.twitter.com/W4VfmXbNUE
— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) April 8, 2024
But this is not the first time that Palestine has pushed for full UN membership. A previous attempt in 2011 didn’t even make it to a vote. And even if it had, the veto-wielding United States had pledged to block it.
So, what’s different now? Can Palestine succeed this time around?
What happened before?
“This is a historic moment again,” said Mansour on Monday, referring back to Palestine’s original membership application made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the UN’s then-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2011.
Back then, a UNSC committee assessed the bid for several weeks but was unable to reach a unanimous position. The Security Council never formally voted on a resolution on Palestinian membership.
Diplomats said Palestine lacked the minimum nine votes needed to adopt a resolution. The situation saved the US, Israel’s closest ally, from having to wield its veto to deny Palestinian membership.
The US has repeatedly said full UN membership should follow a deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
After the failed membership bid, the UN General Assembly upgraded Palestine from a “non-member observer entity” to a “non-member observer state” in 2012.
What’s the process at the UNSC now?
The PA last week formally asked the UN Security Council to…