The United States has vowed to vote “no” on any resolution that looks to grant the Palestinians full membership in the United Nations.
The promise came after member states in the General Assembly easily passed a resolution the U.S. claims “will not advance” the goal of an “enduring peace” between Israel and Palestine.
After the vote, U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood stressed that America supports Palestinian statehood.
“Our vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood,” Wood said, according to Fox News Digital. “We have been very clear that we support it and seek to advance it meaningfully. Instead, it is an acknowledgment that statehood will only come from a process that involves direct negotiations between the parties.”
“This resolution does not resolve the concerns about the Palestinian membership application raised in April in the Security Council through the admissions committee process,” Wood stated. “Should the Security Council take up the Palestinian membership application as a result of this resolution, there will be a similar outcome.”
The vote was brought to the floor by the United Arab Emirates. Support for it came from 143 of the members. Nine members, including, among others, the United States, Argentina, Hungary, and Israel. Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Monaco, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom were among the 25 members who abstained.
Following the vote, the U.S. Mission to the U.N. took to X to explain its vote.
“A negotiated two-state solution remains the best path towards an enduring peace where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side with equal measures of security, freedom, and dignity,” the delegation wrote. “Unilateral measures like the UNGA resolution on Palestinian UN membership adopted today will not advance this goal.”
A negotiated two-state solution remains the best path towards an enduring peace where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side with equal measures of security, freedom, and dignity.
Unilateral measures like the UNGA resolution on Palestinian UN membership adopted today…
— U.S. Mission to the UN (@USUN) May 10, 2024
Fox News Digital reports:
Wood in his address to the General Assembly stressed that the resolution “does not alter the status” of the Palestinians at the United Nations, labeling the motion “unproductive,” but assured that as the resolution did not ultimately grant the Palestinians the rights that would provide “the same standing as a member state.”
As such, the U.S. has indicated it will therefore not cut funding to the United Nations or specialized agencies, which it would have had to do under Public Law 101-246. President Obama during his administration cut funding to UNICEF after the organization admitted the Palestinians as members.
In a passionate speech before the vote, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan accused the General Assembly of committing a “travesty.”
“An unforgivable act,” he stated. “The destruction of the United Nation’s charter.”
The ambassador held the charter up, arguing that “the sacred document which serves as the foundation of everything we are supposed to do here is being trampled upon.”
“As long as so many of you are Jew-hating, you don’t really care that the Palestinians are not peace-loving,” Erdan said. “Despite your obligation to the UN Charter, you are here today to expose what the charter truly means to you. When it comes to the lives of Israelis and Jews, the UN Charter means nothing to you, nada, kaput. By ignoring the charter and granting the Palestinians the privileges of a member state, you are proving that morality is just a slogan for you while politics and interest prevail.”
Erdan proceeded to pull out a portable paper shredder and shredded the UN Charter in front of the members.
“You are shredding the UN Charter with your own hands,” he said. “Yes, that’s what you’re doing, shredding the UN Charter.”
“Shame on you,” he stated.
(Video: YouTube)
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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