The Security Council rejected a draft resolution that would have suggested the General Assembly hold a vote with the whole UN membership to let Palestine join as a full UN Member State. The result was 12 in favor, 1 against, and 2 abstentions.
China, France, Russia, Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, and Slovenia voted in favor, with Switzerland and the United Kingdom abstaining, while the US vetoed.
“The Security Council, having examined the State of Palestine’s application for admission to the United Nations (S/2011/592), recommends to the General Assembly that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership in the United Nations,” reads the draft resolution, which is one of the shortest in the Council’s history.
A minimum of nine members of the Council must vote in favor of a draft resolution, and none of the permanent members—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—may exercise their veto authority.
Palestine has requested on April 2nd, in the midst of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, that a 2011 application to join the UN be given a second look. The request was discussed by the Security Council in 2011, but they were unable to come to a consensus to propose it to the General Assembly, which is required by the UN Charter to hold a vote involving all 193 Member States.
The Security Council’s Committee on the Admission of Member States, which convened on April 8 and 11, to deliberate on the issue, received the most recent request earlier this month. Palestine was an observer at the UN General Assembly prior to becoming a Permanent Observer at the UN in 2012.
