US Vetoes UN Resolution for Palestinian Statehood, Citing Need for Direct Negotiations

On Thursday, the United States used its veto power at the United Nations Security Council to block a resolution that would have granted full UN membership to Palestine. This decision effectively stops the international recognition of a Palestinian state through UN channels. Despite support from 12 of the 15 council members, with Britain and Switzerland abstaining, the resolution did not pass due to the US veto.

Deputy US Ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, stated that the veto was not an opposition to Palestinian statehood but a belief that statehood should arise from direct negotiations between the parties involved. He reiterated the US commitment to a two-state solution as the path forward. Conversely, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas labeled the US veto as “unfair, unethical, and unjustified,” expressing a strong rebuke of the US stance.

The failed resolution comes amid heightened tensions, with ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and escalating Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank—territories that Palestinians seek for a future state and which the UN deems illegally occupied.

Israel’s UN Ambassador, Gilad Erdan, supported the US decision, suggesting that international support for the resolution might encourage Palestinian resistance against peace negotiations. On the other hand, Algeria’s UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama, argued prior to the vote that admitting Palestine to the UN would bolster, not hinder, the peace process by including Palestine formally in international dialogues