As Palestine applies for full UN membership, what’s in the way?

Approval requires at least nine votes in favour, with no vetoes. The UNSC’s five permanent members – the US, Russia, China, France and Britain – hold vetoes.

But the US has indicated that its opposition to Palestinian member status in the UN, in the absence of a broader deal with Israel, stays intact.

“Our position has not changed,” Robert Wood, US deputy ambassador to the UN, said last week.