Palestinian UN Status Likely Debated in November
The United Nations is likely to hold a debate on whether to upgrade the Palestinians’ U.N. status to a sovereign country in mid-November – after the U.S. election, the president of the 193-member U.N. General Assembly said on Wednesday.
Having failed last year to win recognition of full statehood at the United Nations, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said last week he would seek a less-ambitious status upgrade at the world body to make it a “non-member state” like the Vatican.
The Palestinians’ current U.N. status is an “observer entity.” If Abbas wins, that would change to “observer state.”
“Come the middle of November, there’s going to be an international debate on the Palestine issue in the General Assembly,” U.N. General Assembly President Vuk Jeremic told a news conference.
“There are electoral and political calendars in many parts of the world,” he said in a reference covering the Nov. 6 U.S. election.
“My understanding is the Palestinian Authority leadership is going to engage in extensive discussions … coming to a conclusion as to what they want to do some time in November.”
Upgraded status for a Palestinian state could be uncomfortable for Israel. Being registered as a state rather than an entity would mean the Palestinians could join bodies such as the International Criminal Court and file a raft of complaints against Israel for its continued occupation.
An upgraded status would also anger Israel’s close ally, the United States, which argues that a Palestinian state can only be created through direct negotiations.
There have been no direct Palestinian talks with Israel on peace since 2010, when the Palestinians refused to resume negotiations unless the Israeli government suspended settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last week that the two-state solution was the only sustainable option for peace. But he said the continued growth of Israeli settlements meant that “the door may be closing, for good.”
The so-called two-state solution involves the creation of a state of Palestine to exist peacefully alongside Israel. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by David Brunnstrom)
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
