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U.S., Israel Work to Block Unilateral Palestinian Statehood Drive at UN
(Jerusalem Post) Tovah Lazaroff - The U.S. and Israel are working to block a renewed Palestinian Authority drive to become a member state of the United Nations, effectively handing the Palestinians unilateral statehood recognition outside the context of any final status agreement with Israel. There are 137 countries which, outside the context of the UN, recognize Palestine as a state, out of which 120 maintain full diplomatic ties. But most Western countries, including most European nations, have not recognized Palestine as a state. With respect to UN membership, Security Council approval from 9 of 15 UNSC member states is needed for UN membership. Out of those 15, 10 have individually recognized Palestine as a state. The U.S., which has veto power at the UNSC, has historically opposed any Palestinian UN membership drive and would be expected to veto this latest initiative.