The United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favorably.”
The vote by the 193-member General Assembly was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member, a move that would effectively recognize a Palestinian state after the U.S. vetoed it in the UN Security Council last month.
The assembly adopted a resolution with 143 votes in favor and nine against including the U.S. and Israel while 25 countries abstained.
The resolution “determines that the State of Palestine should therefore be admitted to membership” and it “recommends that the Security Council reconsider the matter favorably.”
Under the founding UN Charter, membership is open to “peace-loving states” that accept the obligations in that document and are able and willing to carry them out.
An application to become a full UN member first needs to be approved by the 15-member Security Council and then the General Assembly.
The General Assembly resolution adopted on Friday does not grant the Palestinians full UN membership but recognizes them as qualified to join. If the measure is again voted on by the council, it is likely to face the same fate: a U.S. veto.
