Palestinians to Push for UN Recognition as Independent State

JERUSALEM -- The Palestinian foreign minister said today he will ask the United Nations to recognize an independent Palestinian state next September.

The announcement comes after Chile became the latest in a series of Latin American nations to recognize an independent Palestinian state.

Riad Malki said he hoped to gain recognition from other countries in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. "In the Caribbean there are 12 small states," he said. "But these countries have the same vote that China has in the U.N. General Assembly."

The Palestinian announcement is the latest example of a change in Palestinian strategy to focus on obtaining recognition from the international community as support for a unilateral declaration of statehood, instead of trying to reach a deal as a result of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

"We've had a dialogue with these countries and told them we thought [international recognition] was counterproductive," Yigal Palmor, the spokesman of the Israeli foreign ministry, told AOL News. "It encourages the Palestinians to continue to reject direct talks."

Chile joins Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia in recognizing the Palestinian state. Other countries are expected to follow soon.

"Such recognition would create political and legal pressure on Israel to withdraw its forces from the land of another state that is recognized within the 1967 borders by the international organization," Malki told reporters in Ramallah, West Bank.

It is not clear if the Palestinians will appeal to the U.N.'s Security Council or the General Assembly. Security Council resolutions are binding, but the United States is likely to veto any resolution seen as hostile to Israel. A General Assembly resolution would be nonbinding.

Palestinian officials are also considering asking the U.N. for a separate resolution condemning Jewish settlements on the West Bank. A nine-month freeze has expired, and settlement construction has resumed in many areas. Some 300,000 Israelis live in Jewish settlements, in addition to the 250,000 Israelis in East Jerusalem.

The Palestinian focus on international backing comes as Israeli-Palestinian talks have broken down. In October, the U.S. tried to get Israel to agree to a three-month extension of the settlement freeze in exchange for a generous financial and security package, but Israel refused.

Since then, officials from both sides have visited Washington, but no progress has been reported.

"The Palestinians feel that there is no chance of peace with this current Israeli government and have adopted a new strategy," Joseph Alpher, the editor of Israeli-Palestinian website www.bitterlemons.org, told AOL News. "The Israeli government is growing increasingly concerned."

Alpher said the focus on the U.N. could be beneficial in the long run.

"If the U.N. recognizes an independent Palestinian state, it transforms the conflict from one between Israel and a liberation movement that represents the Palestinian diaspora [the Palestine Liberation Organization) to one between two nation-states," he said. "I think both the Obama administration and the U.S. should embrace this."

For Israel, that does not seem likely.

"It doesn't mean anything legally or materially," Palmor told AOL News. "It's like fireworks. It makes some noise and makes some people happy, but it doesn't change reality."