In a rare move, India voted in favor of a Israeli motion at a United Nations forum to deny observer status to Shahed, a Palestinian organization based in Lebanon, earlier this month.
According to the Israel’s Foreign Ministry, it had initiated a motion at the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) against a proposal made by Shahed to obtain observer status in the UN.
The motion was approved with a 28-14 vote on June 6.
Maya Kadosh, who is deputy chief of Israeli Mission in India, took to Twitter to thank India for its support.
“Thank you #India for standing with @IsraelinUN and rejecting the request of terrorist organization “Shahed” to obtain the status of an observer in #UN. Together we will continue to act against terrorist organizations that intend to harm,” Maya tweeted late on Monday night.
Shahed works on humanitarian issues. However, Israel recognizes it as a “terrorist organization”.
This is the first time when India, which believed in two-state solution of the Israel-Palestine conflict, voted in favor of Israel.
Besides India, the countries which supported the Israeli motion were the U.S., the U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Ghana, Norway, Netherlands, South Korea, Ukraine, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Eswatini, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malawai, Malta, Mexico, Paraguay, Philippines, Andora, Togo and Uruguay.
The countries which voted against the motion were Turkey, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Belarus, Angola, Morocco, China and Russia.
