US stops UN from recognising a Palestinian state through membership
- Vote in the 15-member Security Council was 12 in favour, the United States opposed and two abstentions
- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the US veto as ‘unfair, unethical, and unjustified’
The United States on Thursday effectively stopped the United Nations from recognising a Palestinian state by casting a veto in the Security Council to deny Palestinians full membership of the world body.
It vetoed a draft resolution that recommended to the 193-member UN General Assembly that “the State of Palestine be admitted to membership” of the UN. Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the remaining 12 council members voted yes.
“The United States continues to strongly support a two-state solution. This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgement that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties,” Deputy US ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told the council.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the US veto in a statement as “unfair, unethical, and unjustified”.
Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour, at times emotional, told the council after the vote: “The fact that this resolution did not pass will not break our will and it will not defeat our determination. We will not stop in our effort”.
