UN Security Council Revives Palestinian Hopes of Becoming Full Member

UN Security Council Refers Palestinian Authority's Application To Become Full Member to Committee — The United Nations Security Council revived hopes of the Palestinian Authority after it referred an application to become a full member of the world body to the committee. (Photo: ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

The United Nations Security Council revived the Palestinian Authority's hopes of becoming a full member of the world body by referring the application to the committee on the admission of new members.

Malta's UN Ambassador Vanessa Frazier proposed that the committee meet on Monday afternoon to consider the application. She added that deliberation needs to take place this month.

Palestinian Authority's UN Application

After the meeting, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour said that they were sincerely hoping that after more than a decade since changing their status as an observer state, they could be elevated to being a full member of the global body.

Last week, the Palestinian Authority formally asked the UN Security Council to renew consideration of its 2011 application to become a full member. Currently, the Palestinians are a non-member observer state at the UN, which is the same status as the Holy See.

The committee of 15 members will first assess an application to see whether it satisfies the requirements for membership in the UN. According to Reuters, the application can then either be shelved or put forward for a formal vote in the Security Council.

An application's approval requires at least nine votes in favor and must receive no vetoes from any of these members: the United States, Russia, China, France, and Britain.

Ahead of the meeting, Frazier said that the committee has to deliberate within the month of April. This came as the Security Council came together on Monday to discuss the letter from the Palestinian authority behind closed doors.

Last week, Mansour said the aim was to urge the council to make a decision during a ministerial meeting on the Middle East on Apr. 18, 2024.

Earlier on Monday, Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said that a Palestinian state would be a threat to his country's national security.

He noted that granting statehood to Palestine would not only be a blatant violation of the UN Charter, but it would also violate the fundamental principle of reaching a lasting solution at the negotiating table.

A Significant and Symbolic Moment for Palestine

As is written in the rules of procedure, the Security Council will decide whether the application for full membership is committed to peace and is willing to carry out the obligations contained in the UN Charter, as per UN News.

If the council recommends the application, it will move forward to the General Assembly and come with a complete record of the deliberations.

On the other hand, if the council does not recommend the application, it would submit a special report and a record of discussions to the General Assembly.

A reporter from Aljazeera, Gabriel Elizondo, said that the application's progress marked a significant and symbolic development for Palestine. He added that this was only the second time Palestine had been able to get this far in its application to become a full member of the United Nations.

Aljazeera said the last time was in 2011 when it essentially failed in the Security Council standing committee because the United States threatened to veto the application if it ever came to a vote.