United States America on Wednesday, April 3, said that the creation of an independent Palestinian state should be carried out through direct negotiations between the parties, and not at the United Nations, reports Voice of America.
The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday, April 2, again asked that its 2011 bid for full membership in the United Nations be reviewed. The Palestinian Authority is now a de facto recognized sovereign state after being granted non-UN observer state status by the United Nations in 2012.
Position of the United States, Israel's most important ally, reflects the Israeli position on this issue.
To become a full member of the UN, an application must be approved by the UN Security Council, where the United States can exercise veto power, and then by at least two-thirds of the 193 member countries of the General Assembly.
In response to a journalist's question On whether the US would use its Security Council veto to block the Palestinian bid, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said: “I won't speculate on what might happen in the future.”
He added that the creation of an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel “has to happen through direct negotiations between the parties – that's what we're seeing now – and not at the United Nations.”
Palestinian Initiative to Get Full UN membership was put forward as the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza approaches six months, and as Israel expands settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Malta holds the Security Council presidency in April. Malta's permanent representative to the UN, Vanessa Fraser, said on Wednesday that all UN Security Council members had received the text of the Palestinian Authority's request.
"We will consult with all Security Council members to consider an appropriate way forward.", she told reporters.
Palestinian Permanent Representative to the UN Riyad Mansour told Reuters on Monday, April 1, that the goal is for the Security Council to make a decision during a meeting of foreign ministers on the Middle East on 18 April, but the exact date of voting has not yet been determined.
Prepared by: Sergey Daga