The United States (US) has expressed its strong disagreement with the United Nations General Assembly vote in favor of a resolution granting the State of Palestine additional powers to be able to assume the chairmanship of the Group of 77 developing countries.
The United Nations General Assembly voted on Tuesday in favor of appointing Palestine as head of the group of 77 a coalition of developing nations at the UN in a move that allows it to act more like a full U.N. member state during meetings in 2019. While 146 counties voted in favor only three – Israel the U.S. and Australia – voted against. 15 countries abstained.
“Palestinians are not a member state of the UN not a state at all” the US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley reacted dryly in a statement.
“The mistake of the UN today undermines the hopes of a peace by fueling the illusion maintained by some Palestinian leaders that they can advance towards their goals without direct peace negotiations” with the Israelis she added saying that “the vote did not help the Palestinian people.”
Palestine’s permanent representative to the United Nations Riyad Mansour Wednesday hailed the resolution as “a new political victory.”
“This vote shows multilateralism in its best light” he told the General Assembly. “This vote is an expression of respect for the G77 decision” to entrust its presidency to the Palestinians he said.
