الرئيسية
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Security Council dynamics are no more favorable
now to a Palestinian U.N. membership bid than they were last year
despite a partial change in the council makeup, the U.S. ambassador to
the United Nations said on Monday.
In the teeth of strong opposition from the United States and Israel,
the Palestinian Authority applied to the council last September for U.N.
membership. But a committee to consider the application failed to reach
consensus, and the Palestinians have not so far requested a formal vote
in the council.
Addressing a Jewish audience in New York, Ambassador Susan Rice said
that since the committee's report, the application had "essentially
stayed there for the time being."
"I presume that is because the Palestinians decided that, given the
voting likely outcome in the council, it wasn't timely to push it to a
vote," she told the governing board of the American Jewish Committee, or
AJC. "The fact is, nobody knows for sure what the Palestinians will
choose to do."
Asked whether the replacement of five members of the 15-nation
council as of January 1 might affect the issue, Rice said, "I think that
we are roughly in the same place now as we were last year, and
potentially even in a better position."
The issue for the Palestinians last year was not whether their
application would get council approval - since the United States was
considered certain to veto it - but whether they could score a moral
victory and force Washington to use its veto by winning nine votes in
favor from other members.
In the absence of a veto, a council resolution needs nine votes to
pass. But diplomats said at the time the Palestinians would get only
eight votes in support, with other countries voting against or
abstaining.
Diplomats say that situation remains despite the changes in the
council membership. Newcomer Azerbaijan is thought likely to support the
Palestinian application, whereas its predecessor, Bosnia, was expected
to abstain. But Guatemala is unlikely to follow its predecessor, Brazil,
in backing the Palestinians. The other three newcomers represent no
change.
The Palestinian choice is whether to push for a Security Council vote
anyway, take the issue to the U.N. General Assembly - which cannot
confer membership but can upgrade their status as observers - or do
nothing as contacts continue with Israel over a possible resumption of
peace talks.
Rice reaffirmed the U.S. line that a Palestinian state would come
only through direct negotiations with Israel, not "through a short-cut
at the United Nations."
now to a Palestinian U.N. membership bid than they were last year
despite a partial change in the council makeup, the U.S. ambassador to
the United Nations said on Monday.
In the teeth of strong opposition from the United States and Israel,
the Palestinian Authority applied to the council last September for U.N.
membership. But a committee to consider the application failed to reach
consensus, and the Palestinians have not so far requested a formal vote
in the council.
Addressing a Jewish audience in New York, Ambassador Susan Rice said
that since the committee's report, the application had "essentially
stayed there for the time being."
"I presume that is because the Palestinians decided that, given the
voting likely outcome in the council, it wasn't timely to push it to a
vote," she told the governing board of the American Jewish Committee, or
AJC. "The fact is, nobody knows for sure what the Palestinians will
choose to do."
Asked whether the replacement of five members of the 15-nation
council as of January 1 might affect the issue, Rice said, "I think that
we are roughly in the same place now as we were last year, and
potentially even in a better position."
The issue for the Palestinians last year was not whether their
application would get council approval - since the United States was
considered certain to veto it - but whether they could score a moral
victory and force Washington to use its veto by winning nine votes in
favor from other members.
In the absence of a veto, a council resolution needs nine votes to
pass. But diplomats said at the time the Palestinians would get only
eight votes in support, with other countries voting against or
abstaining.
Diplomats say that situation remains despite the changes in the
council membership. Newcomer Azerbaijan is thought likely to support the
Palestinian application, whereas its predecessor, Bosnia, was expected
to abstain. But Guatemala is unlikely to follow its predecessor, Brazil,
in backing the Palestinians. The other three newcomers represent no
change.
The Palestinian choice is whether to push for a Security Council vote
anyway, take the issue to the U.N. General Assembly - which cannot
confer membership but can upgrade their status as observers - or do
nothing as contacts continue with Israel over a possible resumption of
peace talks.
Rice reaffirmed the U.S. line that a Palestinian state would come
only through direct negotiations with Israel, not "through a short-cut
at the United Nations."