Admission of new members to the United Nations

Condemnatory

Yes

Analysis

• This resolution upgrades the status of the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly, giving it additional rights and privileges but not full membership. The resolution is highly critical of the Security Council which had failed to make Palestine a full UN member state due to the U.S. veto.
• In the context of upgrading Palestine's status, the resolution blames the Israeli occupation and settlements for the lack of peace, while ignoring Palestinian rejectionism and terrorism. Even worse, this upgrade rewards Palestinian terrorism while Israel is still in the midst of a war against Hamas for its brutal October 7 attack on Israeli communities. It sends a message to the Palestinian leadership, to Hamas, and to Hamas's sponsor the Islamic Republic of Iran, that terrorism against Israelis pays off. At the same time, it erodes Israel's right to self-defense.
• Moreover, though it cites UNSC resolution 2334 which outrageously declared it illegal for Jews to live in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, it omits any mention of UNSC resolution 242, which established the "land for peace" framework and expressly did not require Israel to withdraw from all of the territories acquired in the 1967 Six Day War.
• Finally, this resolution is adopted as part of the 10th Emergency Special Session titled "Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory," indicating that it is critical of Israel.

Main Sponsors

Arab Group

Vote

Yes - 143, No - 9, Abstain - 41, Absent - 0

See Full Vote

Key Praise

None

Key Criticism

• "Reaffirming its resolutions 43/176 of 15 December 1988 and 77/25 of 30 November 2022 and all relevant resolutions regarding the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine, which, inter alia, stress the need for the withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, primarily the right to self-determination, including the right to their independent State, and the complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem."
• "Calls for renewed and coordinated efforts by the international community aimed at achieving without delay an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 and a just, lasting and peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, in accordance with international law, the relevant United Nations resolutions, including Security Council resolution 2334 (2016)..."