The Axios website reported that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected a request from the United States to postpone the vote on Palestine's membership in the United Nations. An Israeli official confirmed to Axios that both the US and Israel are pressuring countries to vote against the resolution or abstain from voting. The site quoted an official stating that the Biden administration made it clear that US law compels it to use a veto against the resolution. Furthermore, the Biden administration is attempting to prevent the Palestinians from obtaining enough votes to secure full membership.
Diplomatic sources indicated that the session that the UN Security Council is supposed to hold on Thursday to vote on granting Palestine full membership in the UN may be postponed to Friday to allow for further deliberations. As of Wednesday afternoon, several diplomatic sources had not determined the session's timing. Slovenian Ambassador to the UN, Samuel Zbogar, told several journalists on Wednesday afternoon that "the matter is still pending" regarding whether the session will be held on Thursday or Friday. Conversely, the Palestinian ambassador to the international organization, Riyad Mansour, stated that "the vote will take place tomorrow at 3 PM. I am sure of that. If you don't believe me, you will see tomorrow."
However, the Maltese diplomatic mission, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for April, has neither confirmed nor denied this timing. Regardless of when the session occurs, the outcome of the vote seems predetermined due to the opposition from the United States to the draft resolution presented by Algeria, which "recommends that the General Assembly accept the State of Palestine as a member of the United Nations."
