US Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said on Wednesday (17) that she does not see a resolution recommending that the Palestinian Authority become a full member of the UN help lead to a solution of two states for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Thomas-Greenfield made the comments at a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, after being asked whether the US was open to recognizing the Palestinian Authority's request for full membership in the UN.
“We don’t see that making a resolution in the Security Council will necessarily take us to a place where we can find a two-state solution in the future,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
She said US President Joe Biden categorically stated that Washington supported a two-state solution and was working to implement it as quickly as possible.
The Palestinian Authority is expected to pressure the 15-member Security Council to vote as early as Thursday on a draft resolution recommending it become a full member of the world body, diplomats said. Algeria, a member of the Security Council, distributed a draft text on Tuesday night.
A UN Security Council committee that considered the request was “unable to make a unanimous recommendation” on whether it met the criteria, according to the committee report seen by Reuters.
An application to become a full member of the UN must be approved by the Security Council – where the United States can veto – and then by at least two-thirds of the 193-member General Assembly.
Little progress has been made towards achieving Palestinian statehood since the signing of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the early 1990s.
Among the obstacles are the expansion of Israeli settlements, and Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said that the Palestinian Authority did not meet the criteria required for the creation of a State.
The Palestinian Authority, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, exercises limited autonomy in the West Bank and is Israel's partner in the Oslo Accords. Hamas in 2007 ousted the Palestinian Authority from power in the Gaza Strip.
(Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Ed Davies and Miral Fahmy)
Source: CNN Brasil
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