The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Monday blocked a Palestinian Authority attempt to join the Conference on Disarmament (CD) as an “observer state”.
The conference, which deals with disarmament and arms control and is based in Geneva, includes 65 countries. On Monday, with the opening of the 40-year anniversary of the conference, 33 countries were admitted as observers, with the Palestinian request being the only one rejected.
While the Palestinians were supported by countries such as Venezuela, Turkey, North Korea and Iran, the move was blocked by a combined effort of the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem and embassies around the world, Israel's representatives to the CD and in close cooperation with the United States.