Top US Lawmakers Slam Palestinian Push for Full UN Membership as Dangerous ‘Ploy’

Senior US lawmakers in leading positions to influence America foreign policy in Congress on Tuesday lambasted the latest Palestinian campaign to become a full member of the United Nations, making clear that any push from the Biden administration to entertain recognizing a Palestinian state would be met with fierce resistance in Washington.

“US law requires the United States to cut off all funding to the UN if the UN admits Palestine as a member state,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) — chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, respectively — said in a statement. “Anything other than staunch opposition to this ploy from the Biden administration is political pandering.”

The Palestinian Authority (PA) last week formally asked the United Nations Security Council for renewed consideration of its 2011 application to become a full member of the world body. The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state at the UN, the same status as the Holy See.

Malta, which is president of the Security Council for April, on Monday referred the PA’s application to the committee on the admission of new members. Palestinian officials have said the aim is for the council to take up the issue at an April 18 ministerial meeting on the Middle East.

US officials have historically argued that Israel and the Palestinians must reach a two-state solution to resolve their conflict through direct negotiations, and that circumventing such a process by appealing to the UN would be counterproductive — a point echoed by McCaul and Risch.

“The PA’s request for full membership at the UN endangers international security,” the lawmakers said. “The PA has not made substantive reforms, continues to implement pay-for-slay, and there is no negotiated solution between the PA and Israel. This is a not a serious attempt to find a peaceful, lasting solution to the conflict; it is an opportunistic, politically-motivated move to bypass the peace process.”

Through its “pay for slay” program, the West Bank-based PA allocates significant sums of money to its “Martyrs’ Fund,” which makes official payments to Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, the families of “martyrs” killed in attacks on Israelis, and injured Palestinian terrorists.

Meanwhile, PA officials have been regularly rationalizing the Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel and in some cases even denying it took place or falsely claiming Israeli forces carried out the onslaught.

In such an environment, Israeli officials argued the recognition of a Palestinian state would undermine peace and create a dangerous precedent.

“Granting the Palestinian statehood is not only a blatant violation of the UN Charter, it also violates the fundamental principle that everyone can understand of reaching a solution, a lasting solution at the negotiating table,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan told reporters on Monday. “The UN has been sabotaging peace in the Middle East for years. But today marks the beginning of the point of no return.”

However, some European countries, led by Spain, have begun aggressively pushing amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza to recognize a Palestinian state.

On Tuesday, the Spanish government said that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will meet several of his European Union counterparts over the next week to try to garner support for the recognition of a Palestinian state.

The announcement came after Spain, Ireland, Malta, and Slovenia said last month in a joint statement that they would jointly work toward recognition of a Palestinian state.

Israel’s foreign ministry warned the four EU member states that unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip would effectively amount to a “reward for terrorism.”