Greece to vote for draft resolution recognizing Palestine as UN member

Greece will vote in favor of a draft resolution recognizing Palestine's right to become a full UN member in a vote to be held today at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Despite the fact that until the last minute there were consultations on some changes in the text of the resolution, the decision was made at the highest political level, and Foreign Minister G. Gerapetritis instructed the Permanent Representative of Greece E. Sekeris to vote for the resolution.

The Greek side will prepare a statement explaining the results of the vote, which will say, in particular, that recognition of a Palestinian state as a UN member state should be followed by an agreement between the two sides on a two-state solution. Athens prefers to vote for the resolution in principle, not only to send a positive signal about the need to end the war and begin negotiations on a two-state solution, but also to strengthen its candidacy for the UN Security Council, since abstaining would create a negative impression both in the Arab world , and in a large number of UN member countries that have so far expressed their support for Greece's candidacy.

The resolution recommends that the UN Security Council return to the issue with a positive approach, since the last discussion on recognizing a Palestinian state as a member of the UN was rejected due to a US veto, and analysts see the resolution as a “global poll” on support.

Work is underway behind the scenes to amend the text of the resolution, as there is strong disagreement over the provision to grant Palestine additional rights and privileges short of full membership, as many countries do not want this to set a precedent for similar cases such as Kosovo and Taiwan.

According to Reuters, Israel's permanent representative to the UN, Gilad Erdan, spoke about a resolution granting the Palestinians de facto state status, which violates the UN Charter, and called on Americans to stop funding the UN, since such a resolution violates American law, according to which the United States pays annual contributions to an international organization. The Israeli diplomat even warned that the adoption of the resolution by the General Assembly would not lead to any changes on the ground.

The US previously made a statement threatening to stop funding the UN if the organization passes a resolution granting membership to Palestine. However, after Israel abandoned the attack on Rafah, they changed their position, hoping in this way to put pressure on Netanyahu.

Palestine is currently a non-UN observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood granted by the UN General Assembly in 2012. In April, the US blocked the decision Security Council on recognition of Palestine as a full member of the UN. Twelve members of the Security Council voted in favor of granting the Palestinians full UN membership status, with only Great Britain and Switzerland abstaining.

France, Japan, South Korea and Slovenia voted in favor of the resolution presented by Algeria, although none of them individually recognized a Palestinian state.

Previously, the United States provided pressure at the International Court in The Hague to recognize Israel's actions in Palestine as genocide, threatening members of the court with problems.

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