Israel claims Palestinian Authority does not meet requirements for full UN membership

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli Foreign Ministry alleged Thursday that the Palestinian Authority does not meet the requirements for full membership to the UN.

A Foreign Ministry statement came hours before the Security Council will convene a vote on a request, submitted by Algeria, for full membership for Palestine

It said ambassador Gilad Erdan would clarify Israel’s position to the Security Council.

"I will strongly criticize the Palestinian request and the Council's handling of this request, which is a huge reward for terrorism," Erdan wrote on X.

He said it is "acting exactly according to the script written for it by Sinwar and Khamenei,” referring to Yahya Sinwar, senior leader of the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, and Iranian Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei.

The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state -- a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the 193-member UN General Assembly in 2012.

“The Palestinian people have the right to obtain full membership,” Palestinian Presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said Wednesday.

The Security Council requires nine votes to pass a resolution for the 15-member group with a condition that none of the five permanent members -- US, UK, France, Russia and China -- votes against it.

The Palestinian application for full UN membership comes amid a deadly Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 33,900 victims since Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which claimed 1,200 lives.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while over 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar