Israel to run for UN Security Council seat for 2019-20

UN diplomats say securing seat will not be easy; Israel's UN ambassador says "we are going all out to win."

By MAYA SHWAYDER
Members of UN Security Council vote 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Adrees Latif)
Members of UN Security Council vote 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Adrees Latif)
NEW YORK – The Israeli Mission to the UN is throwing its hat into the ring for a seat on the Security Council.
“We’re going all-out to win. It’s about time,” Ambassador Ron Prosor told Reuters on Thursday.
Israel will have to compete against Belgium and Germany for the two slots that are reserved for the Western European and Others group for the 2019-2020 council.
Germany is the thirdlargest financial contributor to the UN, and has vying for a permanent spot on it for 25 years, a spokesman for the German Mission told the press in May when Germany first announced its candidacy.
Israel is one of 72 countries that have never served on the Security Council. Many say this is due to an institutional bias against Israel, a bias that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at one time admitted existed; he then swiftly retracted his statement.
To be elected to the council, a member state needs votes from two-thirds of the 193 states in the General Assembly. That’s 129 member states, 120 of which are in the Non-Aligned Movement, the largest contingent of UN member states, many of which are antagonistic toward Israel.
For reference, the Palestinian Authority gained its non-member observer state status at the UN in November 2012 with 138 votes.