The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday that he expected to raise the Palestinian flag at the gates of United Nations headquarters in time for the annual meeting of world leaders here at the end of the month.
The move would offer the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, a chance to demonstrate his push to gain international recognition for a Palestinian state.
The ambassador, Riyad Mansour, told reporters that he had sufficient support in the 193-member United Nations General Assembly to change a longstanding rule and allow what are known here as “nonmember observer states” — Palestinians gained that status in November 2012 — to raise their flags alongside those of member states.
The resolution is expected to be put to a vote in the General Assembly on Sept. 10. The Palestinians say they expect to prevail.
“It is a symbolic thing, but it is another step to solidify the pillars of the state of Palestine in the international arena and give our people a small hope that the international community is still supporting the independence of the state of Palestine,” Mr. Mansour told reporters.
Only member states now fly their flags in front of United Nations headquarters in New York. Diplomats said the secretary general’s office was leaving it up to the General Assembly to decide whether that should change.
Israel has called the effort to allow nonmember observer states to fly their flags “another cynical misuse of the United Nations by the Palestinian Authority.” The United States has called the measure “counterproductive” and is expected to vote against it. The 28 nations that belong to the European Union are discussing the possibility of jointly agreeing to abstain.
The timing of the resolution is intended to allow the Palestinians to raise the flag in time for a speech by Mr. Abbas to the General Assembly on Sept. 30. It comes at a time when peace talks are stalled, as are efforts to draw the Security Council into an active role in settling the conflict.
Mr. Abbas used his speech to the General Assembly meeting last September to call for a Council resolution that would press for a timeline to end Israeli occupation of the West Bank. And France had signaled this year that it was prepared to advance such a measure in the Council. The United States has long resisted such a move.
The other nonmember observer state is the Holy See, representing the Vatican, and it has been reticent to wade into the flag-flying debate at the United Nations. Last week it said in a news release that it “does not object” to such a move, but that it also respected the “long-established praxis and tradition” of raising only member state flags.
Israel said the Vatican had been pressed by the Palestinian and Arab delegations to issue the statement.
The Vatican has not said publicly whether it would want to fly its flag. “If the situation at the United Nations were to change,” an official at the Holy See mission said Thursday, “the Holy See would consider how to respond.”
Pope Francis is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Sept 25.
