The Palestinian Authority is once again applying to the United Nations Security Council for full member state status — and once again, Israel is planning to block the move in coordination with the United States.
“Even as it continues to pay salaries to terrorists every month, encourage violence and lead an unrelenting campaign of incitement against Israel, the Palestinian Authority has the audacity to ask the Security Council to recognize it as a full member state of the United Nations,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said in a statement.
“Instead of focusing on building a better and more hopeful future for the Palestinians and helping to ensure stability in the region, the Palestinian leadership is continuing its destructive policies that have encouraged recent terror attacks, including the murder of the four-day-old baby, Amiad Yisrael (z”l),” he added.
The application by the Palestinian Authority for membership as a full member state this time around is to be taken up by the Security Council on January 15 during its quarterly discussion on the Situation in the Middle East.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole representative of the Palestinian people — and representing the Palestinian Authority — was granted non-state observer status by the UN General Assembly in 2012. That move enabled the Palestinian Authority to subsequently gain membership in dozens of high-value international agencies, treaties and organizations, such as the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
To be considered a full member state of the United Nations, however, an application by the Palestinian Authority must be approved by a minimum of nine member states seated on the UN Security Council, including its five permanent members, any one of which has veto power. The United States is among those five permanent members and is most likely to veto that application.