UN Security Council revisits Palestine's UN membership application

UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Security Council on Monday renewed consideration of Palestine's full UN membership application and decided to refer the matter to its Committee on the Admission of New Members.

The committee, comprised of all 15 members of the Security Council, will begin to meet on Monday afternoon to discuss Palestine's application.

The Palestinian representative wrote to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday to request for renewed consideration of its Sept 23, 2011, application for UN membership. The secretary-general transmitted the request to the Security Council on Wednesday.

Under the UN Charter, the admission of new members is decided by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

Since the council has referred the application to its Committee on the Admission of New Members, the committee will deliberate on the matter and report its conclusions to the council. The council then, by resolution, takes a decision to make a recommendation to the General Assembly.

As admission to UN membership is considered a substantive issue, a Security Council decision requires the agreement of at least nine of the council's 15 members and is subject to veto.

Admission to UN membership requires a two-thirds majority at the General Assembly.

Palestine is currently a non-member observer state of the United Nations.

In 1974, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 3237, approving the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as an observer. In December 1988, the assembly acknowledged the proclamation of the State of Palestine and decided that Palestine should be used in place of the PLO, maintaining Palestine in the non-state observer category.

In July 1998, the General Assembly elevated Palestine to a status higher than all other observers. In November 2012, the General Assembly adopted a resolution to accord Palestine the status of a non-member observer state of the United Nations.