The Australian government faces a decision next week on whether to support admitting Palestine as a full member of the UN and is swapping notes with allies including South Korea and Germany.
A copy of the draft resolution, seen by Guardian Australia, expresses “deep regret and concern” that the US used its veto power to block the proposal at the UN security council last month.
The Palestinian-backed draft text, due for a vote in New York on 10 May, will be put to the general assembly where all UN member states have a vote.
It laments that “one negative vote” had scuttled a proposal backed by 12 others in the 15-member security council, including US allies South Korea, Japan and France. The UK and Switzerland abstained.
The proposed new resolution is understood to be backed by the Arab Group and some members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The general assembly would recommend that the UN security council “reconsider the matter favourably”.
At present, Palestine has the status of “Permanent Observer State” at the UN. That means it can participate in all UN proceedings but does not have voting rights.
Palestinian diplomats at the UN represent the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Authority is dominated by Fatah, a rival to Hamas.
Under UN rules, full membership of the global body can only be granted with the support of both the security council and two-thirds of the general assembly.
This means the looming vote in the general assembly is seen as largely symbolic, although it will be another gauge of global opinion amid rising alarm about the humanitarian impact of the Israel-Gaza war.
The draft resolution says the general assembly “determines that the State of Palestine is, in its judgment, a peace-loving State within the meaning of Article 4 of the Charter, is able and willing to carry out the obligations of the Charter, and should therefore be admitted to membership in the United Nations”.
Contentiously, however, the draft resolution would also “confer upon the State of Palestine the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation in the sessions and work of the general assembly” and other UN conferences “on equal footing with member states”.
Guardian Australia understands that the early draft of the resolution is being intensely debated among diplomats in New York, with many countries yet to lock in their position because the text is “still fluid”.
It is expected that the more broadly worded the question is, the more difficult it will be to win support from countries that have yet to recognise Palestinian statehood but still want to signal political support for a two-state solution.
Western diplomats have questioned the inclusion of the clause conferring “equal footing with member states”, raising concerns about potential inconsistencies with the UN charter.
This is because those rights appear to take effect regardless of whether the security council revisits the membership issue.
Diplomatic negotiations are continuing, but the draft resolution “reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine”.
The draft text also “calls for renewed and coordinated efforts by the international community aimed at achieving without delay an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 and a just, lasting and peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” in accordance with international law.
The text outlines “unwavering support for the two-state solution of Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within recognised borders, based on the pre-1967 borders”.
Some countries that voted last month to grant full UN membership to Palestine emphasised this did not equate to bilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood.
South Korea – which, like Australia, is a key US ally in the Indo-Pacific region – said the vote signalled “our view that renewed and strengthened efforts are needed to revitalise the path toward the two-state solution”.
The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, talked about the issue with counterparts from South Korea and Germany this week.
In Melbourne on Wednesday, Australian and South Korean ministers “discussed how the international community can help build momentum towards a lasting peace” and how Seoul’s UN vote “reflected this aspiration”, according to a readout of the meeting.
Wong met her German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, in Adelaide on Friday and said a two-state solution was “the only path out” of the cycle of violence.
“There are different views within the international community about how that will be achieved, but it is an important discussion,” Wong said.
Wong first floated the issue in a foreign policy speech three weeks ago when she said the international community was “now considering the question of Palestinian statehood as a way of building momentum towards a two-state solution”.
She reiterated that there must be “no role for Hamas in a future Palestinian state” and the group must release hostages held in Gaza.
But the Coalition denounced Wong’s comments as “ill-timed and inappropriate” because Hamas remained in power in Gaza and posed “an existential threat to the state of Israel”.
The Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said on Wednesday granting full member status to Palestine would “reward the perpetrators of the horrors” of the deadly 7 October attack.
But the Palestinian envoy, Riyad Mansour, told the same session of the general assembly that “the massacres against the Palestinian people continue unabated” and Israel must not have a veto over “the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination”.
