UN General Assembly backs Palestinian bid for membership
The United Nations General Assembly has backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favorably”.
The vote by the 193-member General Assembly on Friday was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member – a move that would effectively recognize a Palestinian state – after the United States vetoed it in the UN Security Council last month, Al Jazeera reported. The assembly adopted a resolution on Friday with 143 votes in favor and nine against – including the US and Israel – while 25 countries abstained. It does not give the Palestinians full UN membership but simply recognizes them as qualified to join.
The General Assembly resolution “determines that the State of Palestine … should therefore be admitted to membership” and it “recommends that the Security Council reconsider the matter favorably”.