UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Security Council experts began examining for the first time Friday the Palestinian application for United Nations membership.
Diplomats said experts from all 15 security council nations on the admissions committee met behind closed doors to discuss how to proceed with their review of the Palestinian bid. They planned to meet again next week, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the session was private.
The admissions committee is expected to make a recommendation to the Security Council, but there is no deadline. They are expected to give a status report to members on Oct. 18. Diplomats say there is no veto in the committee and its decision on whether to recommend Palestinian membership to the council will be based on a majority vote.
The Security Council would then need to pass a resolution recommending Palestinian membership to the 193-member General Assembly, which must give final approval. The United States, Israel's closest ally, has pledged to veto any Palestinian membership bid.
While the Security Council is considering the Palestinian bid to become the 194th U.N. member state, Mideast negotiators are seeking ways to restart long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Envoys from the so-called Quartet - the U.S., U.N., European Union and Russia - are scheduled to meet Sunday in Brussels.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered the Palestinian application on Sept. 23. Hours later, the Quartet called for a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in a month with the goal of a peace agreement by the end of 2012.