INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
(Reuters) - The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full U.N
member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending the U.N
Palestinian bid to become a full U.N
member - a move that would effectively recognize a Palestinian state - after the United States vetoed it in the U.N
Security Council last month.The assembly adopted a resolution with 143 votes in favor and nine against - including the United States and
Israel - while 25 countries abstained
It does not give the Palestinians full U.N
membership comes seven months into a war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding
settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the U.N
Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the assembly before the vote
Ambassador Gilad Erdan, who spoke after Mansour, told his fellow diplomats
He accused the assembly of shredding the U.N
member first needs to be approved by the 15-member Security Council and then the General Assembly
If the measure is again voted on by the council it is likely to face the same fate: a United States veto.ADDITIONAL U.N
RIGHTS Deputy United States Ambassador to the U.N
Robert Wood told the General Assembly after the vote that unilateral measures at the U.N
clear that we support it and seek to advance it meaningfully
said.The United Nations has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders
Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war with neighboring
Arab states.The General Assembly resolution adopted on Friday does give the Palestinians some additional rights and privileges from
September 2024 - like a seat among the U.N
members in the assembly hall - but they will not be granted a vote in the body.The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a
de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the U.N
General Assembly in 2012.They are represented at the U.N
by the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank
Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority from power in Gaza in 2007
expected Washington to cut funding to the United Nations and its institutions.Under United States law, Washington cannot fund any U.N
The United States cut funding in 2011 for the U.N
cultural agency, UNESCO, after the Palestinians joined as a full member.On Thursday, 25 Republican United States senators - more than half
privileges to the Palestinians
