Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Representative of “Palestine” to the United Nations, said on Thursday says that the Palestinian Authority’s leadership is conducting talks at the highest levels, led by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, with the aim of demanding full membership of “the State of Palestine” in the United Nations, in order to preserve the two-state solution. In an interview with Voice of Palestine radio, Mansour said that the Palestinian Authority approached US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, Jordanian King Abdullah II and the member states of the Security Council in this regard. He added that the Palestinian demands were raised in a speech made on behalf of “the State of Palestine” and which was delivered during an open session of the Security Council, and they are being studied by the members of the Security Council. A response is expected in the near future, said Mansour. He emphasized the importance of "the international community taking responsibility for the situation by providing international protection to the Palestinian people and maintaining the two-state solution, in light of the apartheid policy pursued by the occupation." Related articles: Abbas asks for assistance in establishing a Palestinian state Ireland to recognize a Palestinian state on Wednesday UN to vote on motion granting PA the rights of a state Trinidad and Tobago recognizes 'Palestine' In 2012, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved the de facto recognition of the “state of Palestine” when it upgraded the PA’s UN observer status to non-member state. Full membership would amount to international recognition of Palestinian statehood. The PA previously announced in 2019 it would launch a bid to become a full member of the United Nations. Two weeks later, however, Mansour announced the PA was dropping its bid to become a full member of the UN, likely due to the fact that US would more than likely have vetoed any Security Council resolution granting the PA full membership of the global body.
