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Australia has voted with the vast majority of the United Nations General Assembly on a resolution to grant “rights and privileges” to Palestine.
The vote, which passed overnight 143-9 with 25 abstentions, also called on the UN’s Security Council to “favourably reconsider” its request to become the 194th member of the international body.
The United States vetoed that widely backed April 18 Security Council resolution, which would have paved the way for Palestinian statehood, and all but promised after the most recent vote that it would do the same in the future.
The Australian vote was its most significant show of support for Palestine at the UN since it supported a push for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of hostages.
But it came with some caveats. Following the ballot, Australia’s permanent representative to the UN, James Larsen, described the extension of Palestine’s rights as “modest” and described the part expressing aspiration for full Palestinian statehood was “not what we would propose”.
The yes vote, he said, was an “unwavering support for the two-state solution” and a “clear rejection of the goals and methods of Hamas”, he said.
“Like many other countries our vote for this resolution is not bilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood,” Larsen told the General Assembly in New York.
“Nevertheless, Australia no longer accepts that recognition can only come at the end of the peace process.”
That language echoes a subtle but significant shift by Foreign Minister Penny Wong in the way she has talked about the conflict since April, which has been criticised by some staunch Israel supporters.
Australia, which is not a member of the UN Security Council so did not participate in the April vote, has long advocated for a two-state solution, but does not officially recognise a Palestinian state.
Its support for the General Assembly vote came after some of the language of the resolution was watered down over concerns about a line giving Palestine, which remains an observer state, “the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation” at the UN “on equal footing with member states”.
Three western diplomats told the Associated Press anonymously that those concerns came not just from the US but also China and Russia.
The final resolution “determines” that a state of Palestine is qualified for membership — dropping the original language that in the General Assembly’s judgment it is “a peace-loving state”.
It therefore recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request “favourably”.
The resolution also stresses “unwavering support for the two-State solution of Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within recognised borders, based on the pre-1967 borders”.
US deputy ambassador Robert Wood made clear after the vote that the Biden administration opposed the resolution and would likely veto any future rerun of the security council vote.
“This resolution does not resolve the concerns about the Palestinian membership application raised in April in this house through the admissions committee process,” he said.
“And should the Security Council take up the Palestinians membership application as a result of this resolution, there will be a similar outcome.”
The US was among the nine countries voting against it, along with Israel.
Under the UN Charter, prospective members of the United Nations must be “peace-loving” and the Security Council must recommend their admission to the General Assembly for final approval. Palestine became a UN non-member observer state in 2012.
The renewed push for full Palestinian membership in the UN comes as the war in Gaza has put the more than 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict at centre stage.
At numerous council and assembly meetings, the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians in Gaza and the killing of more than 34,000 people in the territory, according to Gaza health officials, have generated outrage from many countries.
The war began with Hamas’ surprise attack into southern Israel on October 7, in which the militant group killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 others hostage.
Under longstanding legislation by the US Congress, the United States is required to cut off funding to UN agencies that give full membership to a Palestinian state — which could mean a cutoff in dues and voluntary contributions to the UN from its largest contributor.
To address Chinese and Russian concerns, the final resolution decides “on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent” to adopt the rights and privileges in the annex.
The draft also adds a provision in the annex on the issue of voting, stating categorically: “The state of Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the General Assembly or to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs.”
The final list of rights and privileges in the draft annex includes giving Palestine the right to speak on all issues not just those related to the Palestinians and Middle East, the right to propose agenda items and reply in debates, and the right to be elected as officers in the assembly’s main committees.
It gives the Palestinians the right to participate in UN and international conferences convened by the United Nations — but it drops their “right to vote” from the original draft.
– Reported with Associated Press
