Robert Wood, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, voted against the draft resolution on Gaza in the Security Council.
The Security Council today rejected Palestine's application for membership in the United Nations, and the United States voted against it.
By a vote of 12 in favour, 1 against and 2 abstentions, the Council did not adopt a draft resolution recommending to the General Assembly that the wider membership of the United Nations be voted on to allow Palestine to join the United Nations as a full Member State. The United Kingdom and Switzerland abstained.
The draft resolution is one of the shortest in the history of the Council. The draft resolution was sponsored by Algeria. The text reads as follows: "The Security Council has examined the application of the State of Palestine for membership in the United Nations and recommends to the General Assembly that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership in the United Nations." ”
For a draft resolution to be adopted, at least nine members of the Council must be in favour of it, and no veto can be used by any of the five permanent members, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza, Palestine submitted a request to the Secretary-General on 2 April to reconsider its 2011 request for membership in the United Nations.
In 2011, the Security Council considered the request but failed to reach agreement on a recommendation to the UN General Assembly. Under the Charter of the United Nations, membership in the United Nations requires a vote of 193 Member States held by the General Assembly.
Earlier this month, the Council sent an updated request for consideration to its Committee on the Admission of New Members, which met on 8 and 11 April to discuss the matter.
Palestine has been an observer state at the United Nations since 2012, having previously been an observer at the United Nations General Assembly.
United States: Meeting national standards "pending"
Robert Wood, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, said that Council members have a special responsibility to ensure that their actions advance the cause of international peace and security and are consistent with the requirements of the Charter of the United Nations.
He said that the report of the Committee on the Admission of New Members reflected that there was no agreement among the members of the Security Council as to whether the applicant State met the criteria for membership under Article 4 of the Charter of the United Nations.
He said that there were still outstanding questions about whether applicants met the criteria to be considered a country.
"We have long called on the Palestinian Authority to undertake the necessary reforms to help build its state-ready attributes, and note that the terrorist organization Hamas is currently exercising power and influence in Gaza – an integral part of the State envisaged in this resolution," he said. ”
It was for these reasons, he explained, that the United States voted against.
The United States continues to strongly support the two-state solution, Wood said.
"This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but rather acknowledges that Palestinian statehood can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the two sides," he said. ”
Russia: The United States is completely isolated
Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Nebenzya, said that this is the fifth time that the United States has vetoed a Security Council resolution since the beginning of the current hostilities in Gaza.
He said the U.S. "once again showed what they really think about the Palestinians." For Washington, the Palestinians do not deserve a country of their own. They are only an obstacle in the way of achieving Israel's interests. ”
He noted that at present, the overwhelming majority of members of the international community support the application of Palestine for full membership in the United Nations.
"The use of the veto by the United States delegation today is a hopeless effort to stop the unstoppable course of history," he said. Washington is practically in complete isolation, and the results of the vote speak for themselves. ”
China: Presupposing the outcome of direct Palestinian-Israeli talks is 'putting the cart before the horse'
Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said that China is very disappointed with the US decision.
"We cannot agree that the countries concerned do not support Palestine as a full Member of the United Nations, claiming that the State of Palestine does not have the capacity to govern the country," he said. The situation in Palestine has undergone many changes over the past 13 years, the most fundamental of which is the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, the continuous squeeze of Palestinian living space as a state, and the erosion of the foundations of the two-state solution. The countries concerned have turned a blind eye to this, adopted an attitude of acquiescence or even connivance, and now in turn have questioned the inability of Palestine to govern. ”
"What is even more unacceptable is that the countries concerned have also questioned whether Palestine is eligible for membership under the UN Charter, implying that Palestine is "peace-loving" is still a question." Such accusations are too much and are a great insult to the Palestinian people, who have suffered so much from occupation. If there is political calculation not to support Palestine as a full Member of the United Nations, it may be better to speak out generously and without having to find an excuse to re-harm the Palestinian people. ”
"Independent statehood is the inalienable national right of the Palestinian people, which cannot be questioned or traded," he said. The countries concerned have taken direct Palestinian-Israeli talks as a precondition and claimed that Palestine's accession to the United Nations can only be the result of negotiations, which is putting the cart before the horse. In the face of Israel's increasingly clear rejection of the two-state solution, the admission of the State of Palestine to full membership by the United Nations would allow Palestine to enjoy an equal status with Israel and would help to create conditions for the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. All countries that genuinely support the two-state solution should not oppose Palestine's formal membership in the United Nations. ”
How do I become a member of the United Nations?
The Charter of the United Nations states: "Members of the United Nations may be admitted to the United Nations by any peace-loving nation which accepts the obligations set forth in the Charter of the United Nations and who, in the opinion of the Organization, are capable of fulfilling those obligations." "A country applying for membership in the United Nations must be recommended by the Security Council and then decided by the General Assembly in order to be admitted to the United Nations.
The application process is broadly as follows:
The applicant State submits an application to the Secretary-General, together with a letter formally declaring its acceptance of the obligations contained in the Charter of the United Nations.
2. The Council considers the application. At least 9 of the 15 members of the Security Council must vote in favour and none of the 5 permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) vote against it in order to adopt any proposal to admit new members.
3. If the Security Council recommends the admission of the country, the recommendation will be forwarded to the General Assembly for consideration. However, a two-thirds majority of Member States must vote in favour of the General Assembly before a new Member State can be admitted. If the Council does not recommend an applicant for membership or defers consideration of its application, the General Assembly may, after full consideration of the Council's special report, send the application, together with the full record of the Assembly's discussions, back to the Council for further consideration, recommendation or report.
4. Membership takes effect on the date of adoption of the General Assembly resolution on the admission of new Members.
