Palestinians' revive full UN membership application - Analysis
Previous concerns which stalled the 2011 PA application includes requirements to enter into relations with other states, whether it was a peace-loving state, and Hamas' control over the Gaza Strip
The United Nations' Security Council (UNSC) scheduled a meeting on Monday to discuss the Palestinians' application for full membership, in a revived effort since first opening the request in 2011.
Closed consultations will first take place in the council, followed by an open format, as the 2011 application for full UN membership got pushed back into discussions amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The United States, which holds veto power as a permanent member of the council, signaled it would block the application.
By long standing practice, applications for membership get steered to the UNSC's standing Committee on the Admission of New Members, on which each council member has a representative. The standing committee could meet as early as Monday afternoon.
It has also been general practice that a membership application is only advanced out of the committee to a full council vote by consensus.
This is exactly where the Palestinians’ application was short-circuited in 2011. Though no record of a committee vote was ever taken, a report forwarded to the UN General Assembly indicated that at least two members of the council could not support the application.
A publication by the Colombian Foreign Affairs Ministry, which was a council member in 2011, showed not only a U.S. veto, but the application failing to garner the nine required votes on the 15-member council. Concerns included whether the Palestinians could meet the UN’s requirements that it have the capacity to enter into relations with other states, as well as whether it was a peace-loving state. Questions were also raised regarding Hamas’ control over the Gaza Strip.
Failing to get the application out of committee, it was referred to the General Assembly, which in 2012 voted to grant the Palestinians UN non-state observer status, which allowed entry into other international organizations, including the International Criminal Court.
Even if the application were to fail to advance out of committee, any individual member of the UNSC can still request a full council vote, which would require nine approvals and no vetoes.
If the application were to be approved by the full UNSC, it would be put to a final vote in the 193-member General Assembly, where the Palestinians would have more than the two-thirds majority approval necessary, and where vetoes do not apply.
No admission of a new member has been vetoed in the Security Council since 1976, when the United States thwarted Vietnam’s application before supporting it the following year.
The UNSC was already expected to hold its quarterly meeting on the file on April 18, which will be a ministerial level meeting. The Palestinians have targeted this date as one in which they hope the council will put their application forward for a vote.
The council is also negotiating a French-drafted resolution, which calls for an immediate Israel-Hamas ceasefire and release of all hostages, while demanding unimpeded humanitarian aid and condemning Hamas for October 7 and for sexual violence used in the conflict. The text of the resolution contains language noting that 139 member states have recognized a Palestinian state and expresses the intent of the council to welcome the Palestinians as a full U.N. member.