United States Veto Draft UNSC Resolution Regarding Full Membership of Palestine, President Abbas: Unfair

US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood during a veto at the UN DK meeting. (Twitter/@UN_News_Centre)

JAKARTA - The United States used veto rights in voting on the UN Security Council Draft Resolution regarding full membership for Palestine at a meeting at UN Headquarters in New York, United States on Thursday.

The Council vetoed a draft resolution recommending to the 193-member UN General Assembly that "the State of Palestine be admitted to membership" of the UN. In fact, the draft received the support of 12 other council member countries, while Britain and Switzerland chose to abstain.

"The United States continues to support a two-state solution. This vote does not reflect a rejection of a Palestinian state, but is an acknowledgment that this will only happen through direct negotiations between the parties," US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told the council, reported by Reuters, 19 April.

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Uncle Sam's veto in a statement as: "unfair, unethical and unjustified."

Palestine's UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the council after the vote: "The fact that this resolution was not passed will not break our will and will not frustrate our resolve. We will not stop in our efforts."

The Palestinian push for full UN membership comes six months after the war between Israel and Palestinian militant Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel expands settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the UN considers illegal.

On the other hand, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the United States for exercising its veto power.

Meanwhile, Israel's Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan, speaking to the 12 members of the UN Security Council who supported the draft resolution, said: "It is very sad because your voice will only further strengthen the rejection of the Palestinian people and make peace almost impossible."

Palestine is currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood granted by the UN General Assembly in 2012.

However, an application to become a full member of the UN must be approved by the Security Council and must be approved by at least two-thirds of the member states of the General Assembly.

"We believe that recognition of a Palestinian state should not be at the start of a new process, but not necessarily at the end of it. We must start by redressing the crisis in Gaza," British UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward told the council.

The UN Security Council has long supported the vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, all territories Israel captured in 1967.

Algeria's ambassador to the UN, Amar Bendjama, argued before the vote that admitting Palestine to the UN would strengthen the two-state solution, not weaken it, adding: "Peace will come if Palestine is included, not because it is excluded."

Separately, the militant group Hamas condemned the US stance in a statement and called on the international community to "support the struggle of the Palestinian people and their legitimate right to determine their fate."

"Failure to make progress towards a two-state solution will only increase instability and risks for hundreds of millions of people in the region, who will continue to live under the threat of violence," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council earlier.