In an overwhelming majority vote, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution to provide new "rights and privileges" to a Palestinian state and push the Security Council to reconsider their admission as the 194th member of the U.N. The vote does not guarantee membership.
143 countries supported the resolution, nine voted against it, and 25 abstained.
143 countries voted in favor of the resolution:
Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua-Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
9 countries voted against the resolution:
Argentina, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, United States, Papa New Guinea, Nauru, and Palau.
25 countries abstained from voting:
Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Fiji, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Paraguay, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vanuatu.
The vote comes after passionate speeches.
The Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour urged member states to vote in favor. "A yes vote is a vote for Palestinian existence, it is not against any state," he said.
The U.N. delegate of Israel, Gilad Erdan, shredded a copy of the U.N. Charter on stage, claiming the push to include a Palestinian state would be in violation of the body's charter.
According to U.N. procedure, the Security Council must recommend a member to the General Assembly for final approval via a two-thirds majority vote. Unlike the Security Council, General Assembly members do not have the same veto power. Given over 140 U.N. member states recognize a Palestinian state, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the vote was expected to pass by a large majority.
Currently considered as a U.N. nonmember observer state since 2012, Palestinian ambassadors have long pushed for full U.N. membership and the recent war in Gaza and subsequent humanitarian crisis has reignited the urgency for membership. The U.N. Charter states that membership is open to "all peace-loving States that accept the obligations...and are able to carry out these obligations."
In April, the United States, which sits on the 15-member Security Council, vetoed a majority-supported resolution that pushed for Palestine's membership. As one of five permanent members of the Security Council, the U.S.'s veto can shut down a resolution.
In a statement following the U.S.'s April veto, Ambassador Robert Wood said there were several questions "whether the applicant met the criteria for membership," including if the "applicant meets the criteria to be considered a State."
Wood added the U.S. believes the most "expeditious path toward statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority." He reiterated this idea ahead of Thursday's vote, stating, "We have said from the beginning the best way to ensure Palestinian full membership in the U.N. is to do that through negotiations with Israel. That remains our position," according to The Associated Press.
Newsweek reached out to the United States Mission to the United Nations for comment.
Update 05/10/24 3:10 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
