Palestinans mull resubmitting statehood bid to UN

By Times of Israel staff, AP and AFP

Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations, right, votes during a meeting of the UN Security Council Tuesday, December 30, 2014 (Photo credit: Frank Franklin II/AP)

New non-permanent Security Council members may tip the scales if another vote is held, PA believes

The Palestinian Authority is considering resubmitting its resolution on Palestinian statehood to the UN Security Council, days after it was rejected on Tuesday for not getting the minimum nine “yes” votes required for adoption by the 15-member council.

Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said Saturday, following a Palestinian leadership meeting, that the matter was being weighed, given the new make-up of the Security Council which went into effect on January 1.

Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela and Spain joined the UN body as non-permanent members Thursday, alongside Chad, Chile, Jordan, Lithuania and Nigeria whose terms end in 2015. With the five permanent members — the US, UK, France, Russia and China — they now make up the 15-member council.

Given the new members who are deemed by the Palestinians as being more sympathetic, the PA may once again push the resolution calling for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines by 2017 and a 12-month deadline for negotiations on a final peace deal.

Following the failed bid on Tuesday, PA President Mahmoud Abbas instructed Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki and Palestinian ambassadors to hold talks with the governments of countries that abstained or voted against the bid, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

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