US envoy says full UN membership won’t help Palestinians with statehood
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Wednesday she did not see a UN resolution recommending the Palestinian Authority become a full UN member helping lead to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Reuters reports.
Thomas-Greenfield made the comments at a news conference in Seoul, after being asked whether the United States was open to recognise the request by the Palestinian Authority to have full UN membership.
“We do not see that doing a resolution in the Security Council will necessarily get us to a place where we can find… a two-state solution moving forward,” said Thomas-Greenfield.
She said US President Joe Biden had categorically said that Washington supported a two-state solution and was working on the ground to get that in place as soon as possible.
The Palestinian Authority is expected to push the 15-member Security Council to vote, as early as Thursday, on a draft resolution recommending it become a full member of the world body, diplomats said. Security Council member Algeria circulated a draft text late on Tuesday.
A UN Security Council committee considering the application “was unable to make a unanimous recommendation” on whether it met the criteria, according to the committee report seen by Reuters on Tuesday.