On Thursday, the United States used its veto power against a resolution proposed by Algeria to grant Palestine full membership in the United Nations. During the Security Council session, 12 members voted in favor of granting Palestine full membership, while two countries, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, abstained from voting, with the United States opposing the proposal. Vanessa Frizzier, Malta's representative and session chair, stated that the resolution to grant Palestine full membership in the UN "was not adopted due to the negative vote of a permanent council member."
**Palestine Condemns, Israel Welcomes**
The Palestinian presidency condemned the United States for using its veto against the resolution in the UN Security Council recommending full membership for the Palestinian state. In a statement, the presidency called the US veto "unfair, unethical, and unjustified." Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the United States for utilizing its veto to deny full membership to the Palestinian authority in the international organization, stating, "The disgraceful proposal has been rejected. Terrorism will not be rewarded."
**Reactions to the Veto**
Egypt expressed deep regret in a statement from its Foreign Ministry on Thursday regarding the Security Council's inability to adopt a resolution enabling Palestine to gain full UN membership due to the US veto. The statement indicated that this objection comes at a crucial time for the Palestinian cause, requiring countries to bear their historical responsibility by supporting Palestinian rights and creating a true political horizon to revive the peace process aimed at a final settlement based on the two-state solution.
Egypt emphasized that recognizing the Palestinian state and granting it full membership in the UN is a fundamental right of the Palestinian people, who have suffered under Israeli occupation for more than 70 years. This matter is an important step towards implementing international law and established international legitimacy to achieve the two-state solution and uphold the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
Moreover, Egypt stressed the necessity of enabling the Palestinian people to fully exercise all their legitimate rights, noting that hindering their right to recognition does not align with the legal and historical responsibility of the international community to end the occupation and reach a fair and final resolution to the Palestinian issue.
Egypt called on international parties supporting peace to recognize the Palestinian state and to responsibly address the current situation to restore hope in reviving the peace process based on serious foundations leading to the establishment of a viable, independent Palestinian state connected geographically, with borders from 1967 and its capital in East Jerusalem, living peacefully alongside Israel.
On Thursday, the UN Security Council voted on a resolution that opened the door for Palestine to obtain full membership in the United Nations, an initiative that was doomed to fail and came as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of the Middle East spiraling into "a comprehensive regional conflict." Algeria, representing the Arab group in the Security Council, submitted a resolution recommending the General Assembly to "accept Palestine as a member of the United Nations." According to the Palestinian authority, 137 out of the 193 UN member states have recognized the state of Palestine to date.
