Resolution Urging "Palestine as a UN Full Member State" to be Voted on the 10th

Participation Rights in International Conference Granted but Voting Rights Excluded
Israel Severely Criticizes Attempt to Vote on Resolution

The United Nations General Assembly will put to a vote a resolution urging Palestine's admission as a full member state of the UN. While the majority of countries are expected to support the resolution, Israel has strongly opposed it.

According to major foreign media including AP, on the 10th (local time), the UN General Assembly will vote on a draft resolution calling on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to reconsider Palestine's admission as a full member state favorably. Although General Assembly resolutions are not binding, this is expected to be an opportunity to gauge global support for Palestine.

The resolution includes Palestine's right to participate in international meetings but excludes voting rights. The appendix of the resolution lists "rights and privileges" such as the right to propose agenda items, respond in debates, be elected as officers of major committees of the Assembly, and speak on issues related to Palestine, the Middle East, and all other matters. However, phrases like "the right to vote in the General Assembly" and "equal status with member states" were removed.

The group 'Porto Students for the Defense of Palestine' held a protest on the 8th (local time) in front of the campus of the University of Porto (UP) in Porto, Portugal. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The resolution is expected to pass with the support of the majority of countries. Unlike the Security Council, the General Assembly, composed of 193 member states, has no veto power, and negotiations are conducted privately. As the war between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas has entered its seventh month, with civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip exceeding 34,000, global support for Palestine has increased.

Palestine sent a letter to UN member states the day before, stating that "the adoption of the resolution will be an investment in realizing the two-state solution." The two-state solution envisions Israel and Palestine mutually recognizing sovereignty and peacefully coexisting as independent states. Palestine emphasized, "This decision will be a clear reaffirmation of support for the Palestinian people's right to an independent state, including the right to self-determination, at a very critical moment."

On the other hand, Gilad Erdan, Israel's ambassador to the UN, condemned the General Assembly's attempt to hold a vote, stating, "If (the resolution) is approved, the United States is expected to completely cut funding to the UN and its affiliated agencies under US law." Current US law prohibits funding to the UN and its agencies that grant full membership to entities not internationally recognized as states. In fact, when UNESCO approved Palestine as a full member in 2011, the US reduced its funding to UNESCO.

On the 18th of last month (local time), at a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting, Robert Wood, the U.S. Deputy Ambassador, cast a dissenting vote against the resolution recommending Palestine's admission as a full member state to the UN General Assembly.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

To become a full member state of the UN, approval must be obtained from both the Security Council and the General Assembly. First, at least nine of the 15 Security Council members must vote in favor, and none of the five permanent members? the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom? may exercise a veto. After passing the Security Council, two-thirds of the total UN member states must approve in the General Assembly.

Last month on the 18th, the UN Security Council voted on a resolution recommending Palestine's admission as a full member state to the General Assembly, but it was vetoed by the United States. Palestine also applied for full UN membership in 2011 to gain independent state status, but the US vetoed the application. The following year, in 2012, Palestine succeeded in being upgraded from an observer entity to an observer state in the General Assembly.