Israel Blocks PA Bid to Gain Full Membership at UN

Israel’s mission to the United Nation (UN) was recently successful in blocking a Palestinian attempt to gain full membership at the United Nations.

Acting with the US and other allies at the UN, Israel thwarted the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) attempt to upgrade its status at the UN from an observer state to a voting state with full membership.

PA head Mahmoud Abbas was reportedly planning a trip to the UN to push the initiative, while Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said last week that the PA would petition the UN Security Council later this month to upgrade the PA’s status.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon led the effort to stop the Palestinian initiative, which was sure to meet a US veto at the UNSC.

Speaking to IDF Radio on Monday, Danon said that to be accepted to the UN, an entity “must love and seek peace.”

“The majority of the Palestinians embrace terrorism and do not meet this criterion,” he said.

He also pointed to the PA’s practice of paying stipends to jailed terrorists and the families of terrorists killed during attacks, as well as its ongoing incitement against the State of Israel as reasons the PA should not be granted full membership at the UN.

The PA has previously attempted and failed to gain full membership at the UN.