18.02.2025 US
1092 day since the barbaric invasion of Ukraine

Palestine as a State: UN General Assembly Votes in Favor, the US and Israel Oppose

The UN General Assembly supported Palestine's status, the Security Council will decide finally. The US and Israel are against

Oleksandr Budariev
UN General Assembly Hall
UN General Assembly Hall / Paul VanDerWerf, CC BY 2.0 DEED

Today, at an emergency session of the UN General Assembly dedicated to discussing the conflict in the Middle East, a resolution proposed by the United Arab Emirates was approved.

It concerns the expansion of Palestine's powers within the UN, yet Palestine will still not receive the right to vote or the ability to nominate candidates for organizational structures.

The General Assembly emphasized that Palestine meets the criteria for obtaining full member status and called on the Security Council to reconsider the membership of Palestine anew, despite the US veto in April that prevented it from becoming a full member of the UN.

Recently, the US has already used its veto right against such a decision, and has also stated its intention to do so again if the issue is reopened. They assert that the status of two states should be resolved through negotiations, not a unilateral UN decision.

The Israeli side believes that recognizing the Palestinian state after terrorist attacks and the onset of war would be tantamount to encouraging terrorism.

Nevertheless, the majority of UN countries (143 of them) voted for the proposed resolution. Not only the US and Israel, but also Argentina, Czech Republic, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, and Papua New Guinea expressed their opposition.

25 countries, such as Canada, Latvia, Ukraine, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Paraguay, Italy, Switzerland, Romania, Lithuania, Albania, Fiji, Netherlands, Moldova, Austria, Sweden, Monaco, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands, the United Kingdom, Croatia, and Malawi, abstained from voting.