Former diplomat warns of Palestinian state

TEL AVIV, Israel, April 21 (UPI) -- The United Nations will declare a Palestinian state in September if no breakthrough occurs between Israel and the Palestinians, a former U.S. diplomat said.

"If there isn't anything else, then in September there will be a vote in the United Nations that will recognize a Palestinian state, just like the U.N. recognized Israel in 1948," Martin Indyk, the former U.S. Ambassador to Israel told Army Radio on Thursday.

He warned that even if Washington votes against such a move it won't be able to stop it.

If a Palestinian state is declared, Israel could be considered an occupier of a U.N.-member country, which would be an uncomfortable situation for Israel, Indyk told the radio.

"Tactically, it is very easy for the Palestinians to go to the U.N. -- it doesn't cost them anything, and it puts pressure on Israel. As a strategy, Israel needs to think about the day after the vote," he declared.

Indyk currently serves as vice president of the Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Earlier this week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he believes the U.S. administration will support a U.N. decision to declare Palestinian statehood, the Palestinian Ma'an news agency said.

Prior to his departure for Paris, the Palestinian president said it would be disappointing if the U.N. fails to declare statehood particularly after it recognized southern Sudan as a state, the agency quoted him saying.