U.N. to recognize Palestinian state despite Western opposition

The Palestinian State is set to be implicitly recognized by the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday despite threats by the U.S. and Israel to hold back assistance to the Palestinian Authority.

Similar to the Kosovo, Taiwan and Vatacan City, the Palestinian State would be re-classified as a non-member observer state. Formerly, the Palestinian State was only recognized as an “entity”. The new classification will grant the West Bank government access to international criminal court and other international bodies.

The Palestinians unsuccessfully sought full recognition as a U.N. Member State last year mainly due to U.S. and Israeli opposition. The current effort will succeed despite threats from those same nations. Both the U.S. State department and Israel have warned that they would reduce economic assistance to the Palestinian Authority should they seek recognition by the U.N.

The United States and Israel oppose the U.N. move as they believe it will undermine the peace process. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that “The path to a two-state solution that fulfills the aspirations of the Palestinian people is through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York.”

The Palestinians have reportedly been working with the EU and Arab states to replace the lost funding should they agree to the new classification.

The Resolution only needs a simple majority in the U.N. General Assembly, 130 votes, which they are likely to get. Germany, the Czech Republic being the only two nations other than the United States and Israel to announce that they would be voting against the resolution. Thirteen European countries have already voiced support.