Today's Edition
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters)
The Palestinian Authority wants the United Nations Security Council to vote this month to make it a full member of the world body, the Palestinian UN envoy told Reuters on Monday, a move that can be blocked by Israel’s ally the United States.
Riyad Mansour, who has permanent observer status in the UN, made the Palestinian plans public as the war in Gaza nears a six-month milestone and Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Mansour told Reuters that the aim was for the Security Council to take a decision at an April 18 ministerial meeting on the Middle East, but that a vote had yet to be scheduled.
He said a 2011 Palestinian application for full membership was still pending because the 15-member council never took a formal decision. “The intention is to put the application to a vote in the Security Council this month,” he added.
Alongside a push to end the war, global pressure has grown for a resumption of efforts to broker a two-state solution - with an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. An application to become a full UN member needs to be approved by the Security Council - where the United States can cast a veto - and then at least two-thirds of the 193-member General Assembly.
A Security Council committee assessed the Palestinian application in 2011 for several weeks. But the committee did not reach a unanimous position and the council never voted on a resolution to recommend Palestinian membership.
