UN Security Council Scheduled to Vote on Palestinian Membership This Friday

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote this Friday on Palestine’s bid for full UN membership. It is expected that the United States, an ally of Israel, will veto the request as it would constitute an implicit recognition of a Palestinian state.

Diplomats have stated that the 15-member council is set to vote at 3 p.m. this Friday on a draft resolution that proposes to the 193-member UN General Assembly that “the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations.”

According to Axios, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas turned down requests from the Biden administration to delay a vote in the United Nations Security Council on Palestine’s full membership in the UN.

To pass, a resolution in the council requires a minimum of nine affirmative votes and no vetoes from the five permanent members: the US, Britain, France, Russia, or China. Diplomats indicate that the resolution might garner the support of as many as 13 council members, compelling the US to exercise its veto power.

According to a senior Israeli official, eight members of the Security Council—Russia, China, Algeria, Malta, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, and Guyana—are expected to support the Palestinian bid, while the UK is likely to abstain. In addition, the U.S. and Israel are exerting efforts to influence France, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, and Ecuador to either oppose the resolution or abstain, aiming to block the Palestinians from obtaining the nine votes needed for passage.

U.S. and Israeli officials further assert that the Biden administration is actively involved in preventing the resolution’s passage, thus averting the necessity for a U.S. veto.

This strategy is designed to reduce potential backlash against the Biden administration for vetoing the resolution, especially amidst the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Such a veto could trigger substantial international disapproval and stir dissent within the Democratic Party, even among Biden’s supporters.

The Biden administration argues that Palestinian statehood should be pursued through direct negotiations between the involved parties rather than through unilateral declarations at the UN, which they believe would not result in tangible changes on the ground.

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