New Delhi: India joined 143 countries that overwhelmingly backed a bid granting Palestine full membership to the United Nations (UN) — an upgrade from its previous observer status.
After the vote Friday, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN gave a fiery speech at the UN headquarters in New York in which he hit out at member states’ support for a “Palestinian terror state,” before shredding a copy of the UN Charter.
Friday’s vote in the UN General Assembly was significant as it came days after Israel bombed and seized Rafah — the only city that offers a land route for humanitarian aid going in and out of Gaza.
The draft resolution, put forth by the UAE, was supported by 143 of the 193 member states while nine countries, including the US and Israel, voted against it and 25 abstained. The vote also faced opposition from Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, and Papua New Guinea.
Defending its opposition, the US Ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, said: “Our vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood…Instead, it is an acknowledgement that statehood will come only from a process that involves direct negotiations between the parties.”
The passage of the resolution now puts the ball in the UN Security Council’s court to give a “favourable consideration” to Palestine’s request for full membership.
However, resolutions passed by the General Assembly are not binding, unlike those passed by the Security Council. Moreover, granting full membership to a state requires a recommendation from the Security Council.
On 2 April, Palestine submitted a request to the UN Secretary-General for reconsideration of its 2011 request to become a UN Member State.
Two weeks later, the US vetoed a resolution in the Security Council that sought full membership for Palestine, calling it “premature.” It had at the time cited Iran’s attack against Israel on 12 April, in which Tehran launched over 300 drones and missiles, as a cause for concern.
This vote in the 15-member Security Council would have been passed without the US veto as it had the support of 12 members.
Since the war broke out on 7 October 2023, India has in its statements condemned Hamas’ terror attack and called for the release of Israeli hostages, while also sending humanitarian aid to Gaza and calling for a cessation of violence in the war-hit enclave.
At the UN, India has abstained on resolutions for a ceasefire in Gaza. In April, India also voted in favour of other resolutions criticising Israel for alleged human rights violations, among other issues.
Notably, India was the first non-Arab country to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the representative of the Palestinian people in 1974. Later, in 1988, India became one of the first countries to recognise the Palestinian state.
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What does UNGA vote entail?
The resolution passed by the General Assembly states that “the State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations in accordance with Article 4 of the Charter and should therefore be admitted.” It further calls on the Security Council to reconsider the matter “favourably”.
Palestine has been a Permanent Observer at the UN since 2012, before which it was an observer in the General Assembly. This has allowed Palestine to participate in proceedings of the world body but it cannot vote on resolutions.
Friday’s vote will upgrade the rights of Palestine within the UN, except the right to vote or nominate candidates for the Security Council or other principal UN bodies.
The upgrade in status will include being seated among member states in alphabetical order, submitting proposals and amendments and introducing them, among others.
These upgrades will only come into effect when the new session of the General Assembly commences in September.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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