The Palestinians’ application for UN membership was met with a veto from the United States. Photo: Yuki Iwamura / AP / NTB
Of NTB | 19.04.2024 00:03:53
Policy: – Norway regrets that the Security Council did not agree that Palestine can become a full member of the UN. We would have voted in favor, says Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap).
– Norway is clear about Palestine’s right to a state of its own. A two-state solution is the only way to a lasting peace between Palestine and Israel, he says further.
Earlier this month, the Palestinian Authority revived an application for UN membership that had first been submitted in 2011.
However, the UN Security Council must stand united behind the application for Palestine to become a member. The US, which is Israel’s main ally, has the right to veto as a permanent member of the council.
Should such an application have nevertheless been approved by the Security Council, it would in any case need the support of at least two thirds of the members of the UN General Assembly.
Earlier this month, the United States stated that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state should be the result of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and not through the United Nations.
The vote was held in the UN Security Council late Thursday evening Norwegian time. The US had previously announced that it would use its veto power against the proposal.
– This shameful proposal was rejected. Terrorism should not be rewarded, says Katz.
The Palestinian Authority condemns the US veto.
– The US veto is unfair, unethical and unjustified, it says a statement from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
He calls the decision an attack that pushes the Middle East even closer to the edge of the cliff.
UN membership will in practice mean that Palestine is recognized as its own country. Today, the Palestinians have the status of an observer state without being a member of the UN, which is the result of a vote in the UN General Assembly in 2012.
US UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield believes that it is difficult to imagine how the Palestinian application will be able to contribute to a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz praises the US decision.
(© NTB)