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India favors, US opposes resolution backing full Palestine United Nations membership
India has always proposed a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestine conflict. New Delhi has condemned terrorist attacks by Hamas but also called for a homeland for Palestinians.
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The United Nations General Assembly in session. / Screengrab YouTube/@unitednations
The United Nations General Assembly on May.10 passed a resolution backing Palestine to become a full UN member with 143 votes in favor — including India and nine against — including the US and Israel. Twenty-five member countries abstained from the vote.
However, granting full membership to Palestine also requires a recommendation from the Security Council.
"We want peace, we want freedom," Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the UNGA before the vote, adding "A yes vote is a vote for Palestinian existence, it is not against any state. It is an investment in peace. Voting yes is the right thing to do," he said, drawing applause.
India has always proposed a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestine conflict. New Delhi has condemned terrorist attacks by Hamas but also called for a homeland for Palestinians.
"We have supported a negotiated two-state solution, towards establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine within secure and recognized borders, living side by side in peace with Israel," the Ministry of External Affairs said in the Parliament in February 2024.
Elaborating on the US' negative vote, Ambassador Robert Wood said that it did not show opposition to Palestinian statehood.
“We have been very clear that we support it and seek to advance it meaningfully. Instead, it is an acknowledgement that statehood will come from a process that involves direct negotiations between the parties,” Wood said.
“There is no other path that guarantees Israel’s security and future as a democratic Jewish State. There is no other path that guarantees Palestinians can live in peace and dignity in a State of their own,” he added.
Israel Ambassador Gilad Erhan chose strong words in his opposition of the resolution. “Today, you have a choice between weakness and fighting terror. This day will go down in infamy. You have opened up the United Nations to modern-day Naziism. It makes me sick."
Erhan even held up and inserted the cover of the UN charter inside a portable document shredder.
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