By Luis De Jesus
06 Apr 2024, 16:32 PM EDT
Starting this Monday, the Security Council will discuss the recognition of Palestine as a member state, and not a mere observer, of the United Nations, a process that could take several weeks.
In its morning session, already closed, the Council has scheduled the topic “Admission of new members.” And then, at noon, there will be another open session on the reading of a letter from António Guterres.
The letter, dated last Wednesday and addressed to the president of the Council, which this month is Malta, is nothing more than a formal forwarding of the one that was delivered to Guterres the day before by the representative of Palestine to the UN, Riyad Mansour, requesting full membership.
According to UN regulations, the Council must create a committee made up of all its members (fifteen) that studies the case and delivers a return report; If the committee approves it, the request reaches the General Assembly, which votes on it, and finally returns to the Council, which gives its final approval.
For Palestine’s request to come to fruition, nine of the fifteen members need to support it, and none of the permanent members need to veto it.
In the current situation, it seems feasible that the Palestinian petition gathers nine votes: those of Russia and China, plus African and Latin American countries, and even some Europeans that already recognize the Palestinian state, such as Malta and Slovenia (the position remains to be seen). from Japan and Korea).
However, analysts see it as very likely that the United States will at some point use its right of veto, which in the six months of war in Gaza it has already used three times in favor of its ally Israel.
The distances that Joe Biden’s administration has recently marked with Israel do not seem to affect the meaning of their vote, since if they do so, Palestine would achieve a historic diplomatic victory.
Keep reading:
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• Biden’s event with Barack Obama and Bill Clinton interrupted in protest of his position on Gaza