The General Assembly strengthened the position of Palestine. The representative of Israel shredded the UN Charter

At the General Assembly session, 143 countries supported the resolution, 25 abstained and nine, including the Czech Republic, were against it. According to the media, the text also grants Palestine, which has the status of an observer state in the UN, new rights – such as the possibility to join other UN bodies. For example, Palestine will no longer have the right to vote as a country with full membership, but it will not be affected by certain obligations such as paying membership fees.

“You welcome a terrorist state into your ranks. You have opened the UN to modern-day Nazism. It makes me sick,” Israeli representative Gilad Erdan criticized the strengthening of Palestine’s position in the UN. During a fiery speech, he pulled out a portrait of the leader of Hamas, saying that the goal of this terrorist organization is the genocide of the Jews. Subsequently, in protest, he took out a portable shredder, which he let pass the UN Charter.

The State of Palestine is now recognized by 140 countries. Several European countries have recently announced that they are going to take this step.

Slovenia’s government on Thursday began the process of recognizing a Palestinian state, with the country announcing the move back in March along with Spain, Ireland and Malta. Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said his government would recognize Palestine by June 13 at the latest. Spain and Ireland are going to do it on May 21, the Irish station RTE and the Spanish newspaper El País reported today, citing sources from the governments of these countries. The Reuters agency also reported today that on Friday the UN General Assembly is to discuss Palestine’s full membership in the UN again.

The US vetoed the Palestinian request for full UN membership in the Security Council

Near and Middle East

According to an earlier statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Czech Republic does not recognize a separate independent state. Czechoslovakia made the recognition in the 1980s in a step that, according to Czech diplomacy, was appropriate at the time.

Palestine sought full UN membership in 2011, but ultimately failed to gain support in the UN Security Council. In 2012, it gained observer status in the world organization, but the Czech Republic did not support this even then – Prague has long referred to the fact that the establishment of the Palestinian state should not be a unilateral step, but the result of a political agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.

Last month, the Palestinian Authority formally asked the UN Security Council to reconsider its 2011 request to become a full member of the world body.