Q+A-Can Palestine become a United Nations member state?

The Palestinians have vowed to seek full U.N. membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital, ignoring opposition from Washington and Israel.

But there appears to be little chance it could succeed at present because the United States would veto it in the Security Council.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Aug. 16 in Sarajevo that he would deliver the application to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at some point during the upcoming gathering of world leaders for the U.N. General Assembly session, which begins the week of Sept. 19.

WHAT STATUS DO THE PALESTINIANS CURRENTLY HAVE AT THE U.N.?

The Palestinians are U.N. observers without voting rights. The European Union is also an observer, while the Vatican is what is known as a non-member observer state.

WHAT DO THE PALESTINIANS, ISRAELIS AND OTHERS WANT?

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he wants the world to recognize a Palestinian state at the General Assembly in September and support its admission to the United Nations.

U.S. President Barack Obama said last year he hoped a Palestinian state could be admitted to the United Nations by the time world leaders gather for the 2011 General Assembly.

That statement, U.S. officials say, was only an expression of hope, not a call for a vote this autumn on Palestinian U.N. membership.

Israel is lobbying against the Palestinians' U.N. bid. It sees the plan as an attempt to isolate and delegitimize it.

But a number of European Union states, U.N. diplomats say, are looking increasingly favorably on the idea, largely due to frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and what they see as its recalcitrance over settlements and other issues holding up peace talks.

CAN THE UNITED NATIONS RECOGNIZE COUNTRIES?

Technically the United Nations does not recognize states. Individual U.N. members do that on a bilateral basis. In reality, however, membership in the United Nations is generally considered to be confirmation that a country is an internationally recognized sovereign state.

If the Palestinians were to upgrade their status to that of a non-member observer state, it would be a kind of implicit U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state.

HOW DOES THE U.N. ADMIT NEW MEMBER STATES?

Countries seeking to join the United Nations usually present an application to the secretary-general, who passes it to the U.N. Security Council to assess and vote on. If the 15-nation council approves the membership request, it is passed to the U.N. General Assembly for approval. A membership request needs a two-thirds majority, or 129 votes, for approval.

A country cannot join the United Nations unless the Security Council and General Assembly approve its application.

COULD THE PALESTINIANS JOIN THE U.N.?

In theory, yes. But as long as the United States is ready to use its veto to block a Palestinian request for U.N. membership, there is no chance of success.

Even if the Palestinians secured a two-thirds majority of votes in the General Assembly, there is no getting around the need for prior approval of the Security Council. According to the U.N. charter, membership in the United Nations "will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council."

If Washington changed its position and agreed to back a Palestinian U.N. membership bid, or to abstain during a Security Council vote, it would probably succeed.

IS NON-MEMBER STATE STATUS AN OPTION?

In addition to applying to become a full U.N. member state, which requires approval by the U.N. Security Council, the Palestinians could also seek upgraded observer status as a non-member state.

That is what the Vatican has and what Switzerland had before it joined the United Nations in 2002. Such status, U.N. envoys say, would constitute implicit U.N. recognition of Palestinian statehood.

The Palestinian U.N. delegation has suggested it might also pursue this option. The advantage of this option is that it would only require approval of two thirds of the General Assembly. Since around 120 countries have already recognized the state of Palestine to date, U.N. diplomats say that it would not be difficult to secure the necessary 129 votes.

Such a move would have benefits. If the Palestinians were to be recognized as a non-member state, they would be able to sign certain international treaties, such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which they cannot currently sign, U.N. diplomats say.