A Veto on Palestinean Statehood

In late September, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the sole legitimate representative for Palestinians, made a formal appeal to the United Nations to be officially recognized as a sovereign nation. Approval of such a bid would give the Palestinian Authority voting rights and would make it possible for the Palestinians to join the International Criminal Court, enabling them to exert more pressure on Israel. Even though there would still be no official Palestinian state, such a move would be crucial to gain international backing for an eventual bid for statehood. The United States has already vowed to veto any measure that would create a Palestinian state, claiming that Palestine and Israel must first negotiate directly with each other. By vowing to veto a resolution before one has even been presented, the United States has weakened the role of the UN.

President Mahmoud Abbas has already made three pleas for recognition of a Palestinian state in front of the entire UN General Assembly, but the potential state must clear many hurdles before it can be recognized,. First, the UN Security Council, made up of 15 countries, must approve the proposal. In order to pass, nine of these 15 countries must vote in favor of the measure, and none of the countries with veto rights can reject it. Only after the Security Council grants its support can the measure be taken to the General Council, where a two-thirds majority is needed for approval.

Despite growing support from much of international community, the Palestinian Authority has a daunting task ahead: although it has already secured eight of the nine required Security Council votes, there is still the looming threat of the promised US veto.

While the United States’ seemingly indestructible bond with Israel played an influence on the decision to veto any bid for statehood, President Obama claimed that this decision was based on his belief that the only way to create a lasting peace and set borders for a Palestinian state was through negotiation. Such a response from the United States has led to talks of a resolution to circumvent US opposition. President Obama has attacked all forms of UN intervention on the matter, especially a General Assembly resolution. He claims that any UN intervention, whether through the Security Council or the General Assembly, would not be successful and that “ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians—not us—who must reach agreement.” Initially, this appears to make a lot of sense; forced peace is never effective, and therefore any agreement must be reached by the parties involved. However, by deeming the UN an ineffective means of reaching such an agreement, the United States has delegitimized the role of the Security Council and the UN as a whole.

The purpose of the UN is to facilitate cooperation between nations in order to promote human rights, social progress, and peace. Furthermore, the UN Security Council is responsible for international peace and security. Therefore, it would make sense for the Security Council to be directly responsible for brokering an agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The US declaration that it will veto any measure involving this issue therefore weakens the power of the Security Council. The purpose of veto authority is to ensure that all decisions made by the Security Council are well thought out and not pushed through by gang mentality of the non-permanent members of the council. The veto is not meant to be a means of ending negotiations, but rather a way of ensuring that a sustainable peace is attained. Threatening the use of a veto before the issue has been taken to the Security Council is a direct blow to the authority of the UN.

It is important to understand that one of the fundamental flaws in raising this issue within the UN is that Israel is not a member of the Security Council, and the only way to reach an agreement for peace is to have Israel directly involved. That being said, eliminating the UN from any possible negotiations means that the United States has essentially usurped all the power originally delegated to the UN. Israel is still a member of the UN and still has a voice in the General Assembly, meaning that it would be possible for all negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians to be done within the UN. A US veto would be acceptable if it was used as an indication of disapproval, but instead it eliminates all room for negotiation and asserts that negotiations will only happen on US terms.