Obama administration, however, had traditionally abstained from this particular text, which comes annually before the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
"This year, the United States returns to a position of abstention on the text 'Assistance to Palestine Refugees,'” American Deputy Ambassador Richard Mills told the UNGA's Fourth Committee late Tuesday afternoon.
He spoke as the committee gave initial approval to six anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian draft resolutions that will come up later this year at the UNGA plenum for a final vote.
Three of those texts affirmed the work of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which services 5.7 million Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
All three of those resolutions call for the right of return for Palestinian refugees to sovereign Israel or for their receipt of compensation for the property they lost when they fled their homes.
Out of the three, the resolution titled "assistance to Palestinian refugees" is considered to be the most benign.
Canada similarly abstained on the text called assistance to the Palestinian people, while Australia supported it. The US and Canada joined Israel in rejecting the other two resolutions on UNRWA. Australia abstained on one of those and rejected the other.
The European Union supported all three UNRWA texts. Only Israel totally opposed the text "assistance to Palestinian refugees" which passed 160-1, with nine abstentions.
The other countries that abstained on the "assistance to Palestinian refugees" resolution were Cameron, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papa New Guinea and Uruguay.
The Trump administration had opposed UNRWA and cut US funding to the organization. Both the Trump administration and Israel have charged that textbooks used in the agency's schools are antisemitic and incite against Israel.
They opposed the UNRWA policy of applying refugee status to the descendants of Palestinians who fled their homes in 1948; a move which they explain creates an ever-increasing population of refugees.
Prior to Tuesday's vote, an Israeli representative spoke out against UNRWA at the UNGA Fourth Committee meeting.
"We cannot stand idly by when a UN humanitarian agency promotes a political agenda under the guise of true assistance," the Israel representative said.
"UNRWA must be accountable for the hateful indoctrination of children in its classrooms. It must put an end to the spreading of antisemitic lies by its employees and it must show a genuine commitment to transparency and accountability," the Israeli representative said.
She added that UNRWAA resources and infrastructure must not be hijacked by Hamas in conducting acts of terror," she added.
Israel has also opposed the right of return for Palestinians to sovereign Israel, a move which it argues would destroy the country's identity as the ethnic-national homeland for the Jewish people. It has explained that in the essence of a two-state resolution to the conflict, Palestinians would have a right of return solely to a Palestinian State, much like Jews would have a right of return solely to Israel.
The Biden administration, however, has restored US funding and support for UNRWA.
"As many members know, under President Biden, the United States announced it would restore its financial support to UNRWA, which we do believe is a vital lifeline to millions of Palestinians across the region," Mills told the UNGA.
"Since April, the US government has provided more than US$318 million to UNRWA in Fiscal Year 2021, including critical support for education, health and social services benefiting millions of Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA," he said.
The US, he said, has noted that some changes were made to the text of the resolutions on the agency "that reflect our priorities in line with strengthening UNRWA," adding that "the United States will continue to work with UNRWA; work to strengthen the Agency’s accountability, its transparency, and its consistency with UN principles."
Mills called on UN member states to support the agency financially, noting that many of those who voted in favor of the three UNRWA resolutions were not willing to spend money on the organization.
"I would also like to take a moment to point out the overwhelming support from member states for these resolutions voted here today, compared with the relatively few member states that financially support UNRWA," he said.
"In light of the Agency’s urgent shortfall, the United States urges member states to support UNRWA’s services for Palestinian refugees not only in word but in action – and to do so on an expedited basis," Mills said.
The resolutions were voted on in advance of a donor pledging conference for UNRWA scheduled to take place in Belgium on November 16.
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