Palestine to apply for full UN membership

By Betul Yuruk

NEW YORK

Palestine will apply for full UN membership, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki announced on Wednesday.

“We realize that the U.S. may veto the application for full UN membership, but this will not prevent us from applying,” he said after assuming the Group of 77, the UN’s largest bloc.

In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly granted Palestine the status of non-member observer state.

For a full UN membership, an approval of the UN Security Council is required; afterward it is voted in the UN General Assembly.