Which nine countries voted against Palestine's UN membership?

The US, Israel's strongest ally at the UN, declared earlier that it would vote against the resolution

The United Nations building in New York. Reuters

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Nine UN member states voted on Friday against supporting Palestine's bid for full membership in the world body, including the United States.

Most of these countries also voted against Palestine being granted non-member observer state status in 2012.

United States

The US, Israel's strongest ally at the UN, had declared earlier on Friday that it would vote against the resolution in the General Assembly.

Before the vote, Nate Evans, spokesman for the US mission to the UN said Washington would be voting “no” on the resolution and encouraged other member states to do the same.

He added that, “should the General Assembly adopt this resolution and refer the Palestinian membership application back to the Security Council, we expect a similar outcome to what occurred in April”.

On April 18, the US vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have approved Palestine's bid for full membership.

Israel

Israel has consistently voted against Palestine's membership in the UN.

In 2012, it voted, along with the US, against it receiving observer status in the world body.

Before Friday's vote, Israel's ambassador Gilad Erdan physically fed a copy of the UN Charter into a shredder to illustrate what he said was the General Assembly's disregard for the document.

And Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said after the vote that the decision was a “prize for Hamas”.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic has historically been more pro-Israel and pro-US.

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Its UN representative told the 193 member states after the vote on Friday that the people in the region deserve the prospect of a peaceful solution that will permanently resolve the conflict.

Jakub Kulhanek said that UN membership will not bring peace and prosperity to Palestinians, adding that this can only be done at the negotiating table, where all parties will need to “make difficult political decisions and compromises – and that is actually what we should all strive for”.

He encouraged the region to “embark on a path of co-operation including through the Abraham Accords to foster a better future for the Middle East”.

Hungary

Along with the Czech Republic, Hungary is one of Israel's closest allies in Europe.

Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, has had a close relationship with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu for many years.

In October, Hungary voted against a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

Argentina

Argentina has historically strong relations with both Israel and Arab countries, and it recognised the State of Palestine as “free and independent”, “within the borders existing in 1967" in 2010.

New President Javier Milei visited Israel in February and has pledged to move his nation’s embassy to Jerusalem, indicating a significant change in Buenos Aires's foreign policy, following years of supporting Arab nations.

Mr Milei has also announced that his government will declare Hamas a proscribed terrorist group, noting that Argentine citizens were among the hundreds of people taken hostage by the group on October 7.

Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Palau and Nauru

The Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, and Palau are small Pacific island states and have historically aligned their votes closely with the US.

In 2010, for example, Micronesia voted in agreement with the US 47 times and diverged only three times.

Palau's voting record has aligned with that of the US about 96.5 per cent of the time.

Richard Gowan, UN director for International Crisis Group, told The National this group of hard “no” voters is “mostly predictable”.

He pointed out that what was striking is that a number of US allies, like Australia, that might have not supported this resolution six months ago, decided to do so on Friday.

“I do think the prolonged war in Gaza has shifted the overall mood in the UN about the need to get to a two-state solution.”

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