Palestine sees ‘victory’ in Israel pullout from UN race

RAMALLAH, Palestine — The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has described Israel’s pullout of a race for a seat on the UN Security Council as a “victory”.

“The withdrawal of Israel — an occupying power — from the race for a Security Council seat is a victory for humanitarian principles and values that are based on international law and the Charter of the United Nations,” the ministry said in a statement.

It said the withdrawal “unequivocally confirms that Israel is not qualified to compete for membership of the Security Council, which seeks to achieve world peace and security.”

On Friday, Israel withdrew from a race for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in an election on June 8.

Israel was in a three-way contest with Germany and Belgium for two seats representing the western-democratic group of nations on the council.

The Palestinian ministry said it has worked with friendly countries and organisations to thwart Israel’s efforts to gain Security Council membership.

“The ministry worked from day one on exposing Israel’s invalidity to gain a seat in the Security Council and explained to all countries why Israel should not be allowed to have that seat,” Foreign Minister Riad Malki said in the statement.

Since 2000, Israel has been seeking a temporary seat on the Security Council, which requires the vote of two-thirds of the 193 members of the UN General Assembly.

The Security Council has five permanent members — the US, Russia, China, Britain and France — and 10 members elected by the UN General Assembly for two-year terms.