Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that the PA will "reconsider" its relationship with the United States after Washington vetoed a PA bid for full UN membership, Ahram Online reported.
"The Palestinian leadership will reconsider bilateral relations with the United States, in a way that ensures the protection of the interests of our people, our cause and our rights," Abbas was quoted as having told the official PA news agency WAFA.
12 countries voted in favor of Thursday’s resolution: Slovenia, Sierra Leone, Russia, South Korea, Mozambique, Malta, Japan, Guyana, France, Ecuador, China, and Algeria.
Two countries abstained – Britain and Switzerland.
After the vote, Abbas condemned the US veto as "unfair, unethical, and unjustified," saying in a statement that it challenged "the will of the international community, which strongly supports Palestine's full membership."
The PA’s UN envoy, Riyad Mansour, told the council after the vote, "The fact that this resolution did not pass will not break our will and it will not defeat our determination. We will not stop in our effort."
The US had announced even before the vote that it opposes the measure and would exercise its veto power against it.
The PA, which was accepted as a non-member observer state in the UN in 2012, recently revived its UN membership application, prompting the Security Council to launch a formal review process.
The Security Council committee considering the application said on Tuesday it "was unable to make a unanimous recommendation" on whether the PA met the criteria. The PA nevertheless moved forward with Thursday’s vote.