JERUSALEM (JTA) — Interpol will not consider a request by the Palestinian Authority to join the international police force following intervention by Israel.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Tuesday that Interpol had rejected the P.A. request to discuss and vote on the Palestinians’ effort to become a member state in the organization. The Palestinians had wanted the request to come to a vote this week during Interpol’s annual meeting in Bali.
“This attempt forms part of the ongoing Palestinian campaign to evade direct negotiations with Israel and to continue the conflict with Israel inside professional international bodies in a way that disrupts these bodies’ work,” the ministry and the Israel Police said in a joint statement.
The statement said the ministry and police, along with other agencies, “carried out an intensive global effort to thwart the Palestinian initiative over the last few weeks.” The Times of Israel reported that Israeli diplomats lobbied member countries and police representatives spoke with their Interpol peers.
Sixty-two countries among the 190 member states voted against including the Palestinian request on the agenda, according to the statement.
“Many others abstained in a forum where many countries traditionally automatically support the Palestinian agenda,” it said.
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