The Palestinian Authority first sought full membership in the United Nations in 2011.
If there hasn’t been a good time for membership since then, now is certainly not the time.
This is the decisive vision of the United States – decisive, because the American veto in the UN Security Council means it will not happen.
Accession would effectively recognize a Palestinian state.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 12 in favor of the resolution, the United States opposed, and there were two abstentions.
The resolution would have recommended that the 193-member General Assembly, where there is no veto, approve Palestine becoming the 194th member of the UN.
While the arguments were laid out in New York, the American reasoning was laid out at a State Department briefing in Washington.
It’s always been complicated – now you have to add timing and circumstances.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said: “Note that Hamas…a terrorist organization, currently exercises power and influence in Gaza that will be an integral part of the individual state in this resolution and, for For this reason, the United States votes “no”. ‘.”
The American opposition had been well behind schedule in the run-up to the vote in the House.
Its long-standing position is that the UN is not the ideal venue for such a move – and that while it supports a two-state solution in the Middle East, Palestinian statehood should be anchored in a negotiated agreement with Israel.
These are easy words to write, more difficult to achieve.
The prospect of dialogue, much less agreement, between Israel and the Palestinians is currently non-existent.
Israel’s view is predominant in President Joe Biden’s thinking on Palestinian issues, and this is no different.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said: “If the Security Council recommends full membership to the Palestinian Authority which incites and finances terrorism without any control over its territory, it deserves to be described as the UN “terrorist council” and not the “Security Council”.
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This is not a view you would hear from Mr. Biden, at least publicly, but the US president does not need to reiterate the well-known weakness of a Palestinian Authority seen as corrupt, unpopular and unable to exert the influence that Western diplomats would like.
The Palestinian view was presented to the Security Council by envoy Dr Ziad Abu Amr.
He told members: “The admission of the State of Palestine to the UN would eliminate some of the historical injustice from which successive generations of the Palestinian people have suffered and continue to suffer.
This view resonates with most of his audience.
This is not the first time that the United States has found itself out of step with the majority of world opinion in the UN Security Council chamber.
It certainly won’t be the last.
In the shadow of growing conflict, an American president with enough on his plate is choosing his battles carefully.