Palestinian Flag To Fly At WHO, Israel: Sending Dangerous Messages

JAKARTA - The Israeli ambassador criticized the decision of the World Health Organization (WHO) which recognized the Palestinian State as its member and flag to fly over the United Nations agency.

The proposal, submitted by China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and other countries, at the annual global agency session in Geneva, Switzerland, received the support of 95 votes. Meanwhile, four votes opposed coming from Israel, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Germany, while 27 countries abstained, quoted from Reuters 27 May.

This proposal follows successful Palestinian efforts to become a member of the UN General Assembly last year and comes amid signs that France could recognize the Palestinian state.

In response to this, Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Daniel Meron opposed the WHO resolution which he said eroded UN principles and rules-based order and called for a vote.

"This sends a dangerous message that political symbolism can rule out legal standards, that emotions can replace processes, and that partisan interests can bend international legitimacy rules," he said.

In response to the Israeli Ambassador, who described the resolution as unreasonable and accused the organization of politicizing its work by including a similar draft resolution, the Permanent Representative Representative of the Palestinian State to the United Nations in Geneva Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi said, after 19 months of genocide against the Palestinian people, it was appropriate to reconsider the membership of the Israeli occupation country in international organizations, quoted from WAFA.

Meanwhile, referring to the devastating Israeli-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, the First Secretary of the Lebanese Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva Rana el Khoury said the results of the vote provided "little hope for the brave Palestinian people whose suffering has reached an unbearable level".

Although nearly 150 countries have recognized Palestinian countries, most Western countries and other major countries have not recognized, including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Japan.

France and Japan voted in favor of the proposal, while Britain abstained.

"This is symbolic and one action, but it is a sign that we are part of the international community to help meet health needs," Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ibrahim Khraishi, told Reuters.

"I hope we will soon have full membership at WHO and all UN forums," he continued.

Palestine currently has the status of an official observer country at WHO. Last week, Palestine won the right to receive notifications under WHO International Health Regulations - a series of global rules to monitor the outbreak.