International recognition of Palestine

[8][9] In an attempt to solve the decades-long Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the Oslo Accords were signed between Israel and the PLO in 1993 and 1995, creating the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a self-governing interim administration in the Gaza Strip and around 40% of the West Bank.

[10] After the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and Benjamin Netanyahu's ascension to power, negotiations between Israel and the PA stalled, which led the Palestinians to pursue international recognition of the State of Palestine without Israeli acquiescence.

Among the G20, nine countries (Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Turkey, as well as permanent invitee Spain) have recognized Palestine as a state,[note 1] while ten countries (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States) have not.

The designation "Palestine" for the PLO was adopted by the United Nations in 1988 in acknowledgment of the Palestinian declaration of independence, but the proclaimed state still has no formal status within the system.

[13] Although these measures were successful in many cases,[14] the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) immediately published statements of recognition of, support for, and solidarity with Palestine, which was accepted as a member state in both forums.

[18][19] It subsequently attempted to gain membership as a state in several agencies connected to the United Nations, but its efforts faced threats from the U.S. that it would withhold funding from any organisation that admitted Palestine.

[20] For example, in April of the same year, the PLO applied for membership as a state in the World Health Organization, an application that failed to produce a result after the U.S. informed the organisation that it would withdraw funding if Palestine were admitted.

[32] The government position changed, however, following American pressure from the Obama administration, and on 14 June 2009, Netanyahu for the first time made a speech in which he supported the notion of a demilitarized and territorially reduced Palestinian state.

[35] It also opposes the Palestinian plan of approaching the UN General Assembly on the matter of statehood, as it claims it does not honor the Oslo Accords agreement in which both sides agreed not to pursue unilateral moves.

[36] After a two-year impasse in negotiations with Israel, the Palestinian Authority began a diplomatic campaign to gain recognition for the State of Palestine on the borders prior to the Six-Day War, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

[44] The efforts, which began in late 2009, gained widespread attention in September 2011, when President Mahmoud Abbas submitted an application to the United Nations to accept Palestine as a member state.

[52] During the lead-up to the vote, Russia, China, and Spain publicly pledged their support for the Palestinian bid,[53][54] as did inter-governmental organisations such as the African Union,[55] and the Non-Aligned Movement.

[57][59] In August, Haaretz quoted the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, as stating that Israel would be unable to block a resolution at the General Assembly by September.

[64] At the end of August, Israel's defence minister Ehud Barak said that "it is very important that all the players come up with a text that will emphasize the quick return to negotiations, without an effort to impose pre-conditions on the sides.

[63] In the U.S., Congress passed a bill denouncing the initiative and calling on the Obama administration to veto any resolution that would recognize a Palestinian state declared outside of an agreement negotiated by the two parties.

[67][68] In late August, another congressional bill was introduced which proposes to block U.S. government funding for United Nations entities that support Palestinian membership in the UN.

[69] Several top U.S. officials, including ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice and consul-general in Jerusalem Daniel Rubinstein, made similar threats.

[72] Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned that if Palestine took unilateral action, Israel would consider the Oslo Accords null and void,[63] and would break off relations with the PA.[65] On 11 July 2011, the Quartet met to discuss a return to negotiations, but the meeting produced no result.

[74] President Mahmoud Abbas claimed that he would suspend the bid and return to negotiations if the Israelis agreed to the 1967 borders and ceased the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

Avaaz began an online petition urging all United Nations members to endorse the bid to admit Palestine; it reportedly attained 500,000 e-signatures in its first four days.

[79] During the demonstration, they submitted to the office a letter addressed to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, urging him to "exert all possible efforts toward the achievement of the Palestinian people's just demands".

In April 2011, the UN's co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process issued a report on the Palestinian Authority's state-building progress, describing "aspects of its administration as sufficient for an independent state".

On 29 November 2012, in a 138–9 vote (with 41 abstaining) General Assembly resolution 67/19 passed, upgrading Palestine to "non-member observer state" status in the United Nations.

[84] On 10 May 2024, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution that recognized that Palestine met the requirements for UN membership, and requested that the Security Council reconsider admitting the state.