Palestinians win backing to lead key bloc at UN

The Palestinians won backing to lead the biggest bloc of developing countries at the UN, raising their profile at the world body despite opposition from the US.

The UN General Assembly on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to grant the observer state of Palestine temporary rights to act as chair of the Group of 77 plus China, which has grown to 134 states.

A resolution drafted by Egypt was adopted by a vote of 146-3, with 15 abstentions. Only the US, Israel and Australia opposed the move in the 193-nation assembly.

The US ambassador to the world body, Nikki Haley, said the “Palestinians are not a UN member state or any state”, and should not be granted the privileges of members.

“Today’s UN mistake undermines the prospects for peace by encouraging the illusion held by some Palestinian leaders that they can advance their goals without direct peace negotiations,” she said.

The result was no surprise because the G77 agreed last month to give the Palestinians the chair and easily gathered enough support in the General Assembly.

The resolution gives the Palestinians, who take up the year-long chair in January, extra rights such as the authority to submit proposals on behalf of the G77 and request that they be put to the vote.

But it does not change the status of the Palestinians.

Their UN representative Riyad Mansour pledged to spare no effort to defend the G77’s interests and work “constructively with all partners”.

In 2012 the US voted against the resolution upgrading the Palestinians to observer state.