Israel & US Fume As UN Votes To Elevate Palestine’s Status

There were fireworks at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday as Israel tried to fight back against a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member.

The assembly adopted a fresh resolution which puts the 'State of Palestine' on the pathway to future full membership in a vote of 143 to 9, with the US and Israel on the 'no' side. The resolution recognizes Palestine as ‘qualified to join’ and the resolution text was decided as fundamentally a global survey on the open question of full membership.

The decision formally recommends to the UN safety Council that it “reconsider the matrix favorally.” Since 2012 Palestine has been a non-member observer state. But now the General Assembly “determines that the State of Palestine...should thereforebe approved to membership” and it “recommends that the safety Council reconsider the matrix favorably,” according to the resolution text.

A fewer extra procedural rights were besides granted by Friday’s vote: “The General Assembly resolution adopted on Friday does give the Palestinians any additional rights and privileges from September 2024 — like a seat among the UN members in the assembly hall — but they will not be granted a vote in the body,” Times of Israel writes.

Israel is of course fuming, and the below circumstantial played out before the UN General Assembly, complete with an interesting prop...

Watch: Israel Ambassador to the UN @giladerdan1 utilized a paper shredder to shred the UN charter on the podium of the UN general presume ahead of a vote that will give fresh privileges to the Palestinians at the UN pic.twitter.com/mWQ85c8uwK

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 10, 2024

Foreign Minister Israel Katz besides chimed in, decribing the upgrade in position of Palestinians in the UN ‘prize for Hamas’ in a message release by his office.

"The absurd decision taken present at the UN General Assembly awards the structural bias of the UN and the reasons why, under the leadership of UN Secretary-General [Antonio] Guterres, it has turned itself into an irrelevant institution,” Katz said.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield agreed that it was unnecessary and does nothing to advance peace:

"Since the attacks of October 7, president Biden has been clear that sustainable peace in the region can only be achieved through a two-state solution, with Israel's safety guaranteed, where Israel and Palestine can 1 day live side by side with equal means of freedom and dignity. It recalls the US view that universal means at the UN and on the ground will not advance this goal. The General Assembly resolution being debated present is no acceptance and so the United States will be voting “no” and encourages another associate States to do the same,” the US mission said.

"Efforts to advance this resolution to not change the reality that the Palestinian Authority does not presently meet the criteria for UN membership under the UN Charter," she added.

In Europe, Spain and Ireland are the latest countries which are set to bestow designation on a Palestinian state in a controversial move. The US has very consistently voted no erstwhile specified benefits are presented at the UN and at the safety Council.

Below is simply a breakdown of Friday’s UNGA vote...