US lobbied states to vote against Palestine's membership bid: Leaks

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Intercept
18 Apr 2024 05:24
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The Intercept has revealed that Biden's State Department has lobbied nations, including Ecuador, to vote against Palestine's bid for statehood in the UNSC.

Israeli United Nations Ambassador Gilad Erdan, left, addresses members of the UN Security Council, seated next to Robert A. Wood, United States Ambassador to the UN, right, at the UN Headquarters, April 17, 2024. (AP)

Cables obtained by The Intercept reveal that the White House is lobbying nations to reject the Palestinian Authority's (PA) bid for Palestine's full United Nations membership.

Hoping to avoid a PR embarrassment, the United States is attempting to convince other nations to vote against the bid, so that it would not be forced to veto the decision in an upcoming UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting.

The leaked unclassified State Department cables come at complete odds with President Joe Biden's supposed support for a "two-state" solution, The Intercept explained.

In fact, US officials pressured other members of the UNSC, including Malta, the rotating president of the council for this month. According to the report, Ecuador in particular was asked by the US to lobby Malta and other nations, including the permanent member of the UNSC, France, to oppose the recognition of Palestine's full member status in the UN.

The leaks show that the State Department advocated for the normalization of relations between "Israel" and Arab states as the "most effective" way to achieve Palestinian statehood.

In 2012, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution granting Palestine the status of a non-member observer state.

A cable dating back to April 12 this year, shows that the US believes that UNSC members must be persuaded to reject any proposal for Palestinian statehood, which grants Palestine internationally recognized sovereignty over 1967 occupied Palestinian territories, i.e. the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

"It remains the U.S. view that the most expeditious path toward a political horizon for the Palestinian people is in the context of a normalization agreement between Israel and its neighbors," the cable reads.

"We therefore urge you not to support any potential Security Council resolution recommending the admission of ‘Palestine’ as a U.N. member state, should such a resolution be presented to the Security Council for a decision in the coming days and weeks," the US State Department wrote in the cable.

The US State Department is yet to respond to questions on the leaked cable.

It is worth noting that Palestine, which has had observer status at the world body since 2012, has lobbied for years to gain full membership, which would amount to the recognition of Palestinian statehood.