Saudi Arabia welcomes UN vote backing Palestinian bid for full membership

Saudi Arabia on Friday welcomed the adoption by the UN General Assembly of a resolution recognizing that the State of Palestine, currently an observer state, qualifies for full membership of the organization.

The 193-member assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of the resolution, which also recommended that the Security Council reconsider the matter “favorably” and grant Palestine most of the rights and benefits that come with full membership.

The Kingdom’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the decision clearly expressed the international consensus on the inherent rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to establish an independent state within the framework of a two-state solution.

It added: “While the Kingdom appreciates the positive position of the countries that voted in favor of the resolution, it calls on the member states of the Security Council to assume their historical responsibility and not oppose the international consensus and stand up to the moral and legal right of the Palestinian people.”

In the vote on the resolution by the General Assembly, 143 members voted in favor, nine against, including US and Israel, and 25 abstained.