 "Representatives of member countries vote on a resolution that would have recognized the Palestinians as a full UN member state, during a Security Council meeting at UN headquarters. Source: AP")
Amid the brewing tensions in the Middle East, reports are emerging that Israel is planning to summon all the ambassadors of the countries that voted in favour of granting full UN membership to Palestine.
During the recent meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), twelve countries backed a resolution which recommended that Palestine should be granted full membership to the body. However, the resolution was eventually blocked by a veto from the United States.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said the Jewish nation will summon ambassadors of France, Japan, South Korea, Malta, Slovenia, and Ecuador on Sunday. Marmorstein maintained that “a strong protest will be presented to the envoy of these countries.”
We will not agree to the establishment of a terror state: Israel
In a post on X, formally known as Twitter, Marmorstein insisted that recognising the state of Palestine just six months after the deadly October 7 massacre is a “prize for terrorism”.
“As instructed by Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz, tomorrow (Sunday) the Foreign Ministry will summon for a protest talk the ambassadors of the countries that voted in the Security Council in favour of upgrading the status of the Palestinians in the UN,” the Israeli spokesperson wrote on X.
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More Shorts“The unambiguous message that will be delivered to the ambassadors: A political gesture to the Palestinians and a call to recognize a Palestinian state – six months after the October 7 massacre – is a prize for terrorism. Israel will not agree to the establishment of a terror state that will endanger its citizens,” he added.
The resolution dates back to 2012
Palestine currently has a “non-member” observer status which was granted by the UN General Assembly back in 2012. An application for full membership to the international body would have to be approved by the Security Council and two-thirds of the general assembly.
The UNSC on Thursday voted on the draft resolution which was actually submitted back in 2012.
It is important to note that while France, Japan, South Korea, and Slovenia all voted in favour of the resolution submitted by Algeria, none of these countries individually recognised a Palestinian state.
After the voting, several US officials speculated that these countries voted the way they did because they knew their vote would be of no consequence due to the presence of a US veto.
Countries like Sierra Leone, Russia, Mozambique, Malta, Guyana, Ecuador, China, and Algeria also voted in favour of the resolution, the difference is that each has already recognized a Palestinian state.
Meanwhile, miffed with America’s veto, the Palestinian Authority said it would “reconsider” its relationship with Washington.