Israel has managed to block an attempt by the Palestinian Authority to join Interpol, the international policing agency.
A joint effort carried out by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Public Security and Israel Police thwarted the PA request for membership in the international police organization.
The PA application for membership was rejected in a vote at the Interpol General Assembly held recently in Bali, Indonesia.
It was also decided to postpone any discussion of new membership to the organization, and to end the work of the special committee of experts formulating criteria on the matter.
Interpol is the second largest global organization in the world, after the United Nations, with a membership of some 190 countries.
The organization was established to facilitate the exchange of information and intelligence cooperation between member states, and serve as a platform for dealing with international crime.
Interpol focuses on terrorism, organized crime, human trafficking, the illegal sales of weapons and drugs, money laundering, and computer/cyber crimes. The organization gathers, processes and shares international intelligence for use by police forces in different countries.
Last June, Interpol’s Executive Committee decided to establish a committee of experts to examine all requests to join the organization, including applications from Kosovo and the Solomon Islands.
The Palestinian Authority had attempted to gain admission to Interpol via a decision two years ago by the UN General Assembly granting it non-state observer status, which allowed the entity access to hundreds of international treaties and organizations.