PA official: Chile, Uruguay to recognize Palestinian state
Ecuador will join Brazil in welcoming a Palestinian Embassy, Riyad al-Maliki says; Chilean president to visit West Bank.
By JPOST.COM STAFFPalestinian flag 311 AP(photo credit: Associated Press)
Chile and Uruguay will soon join the ranks of South American countries recognizing a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, Israel Radio quoted a Palestinian Authority official as saying.Senior PA official Riyad al-Maliki said that Chile will recognize the Palestinian state in the coming weeks. He added that Chilean President Sebastián Piñera plans to visit the West Bank within the next three months.RELATED:Abbas lays first stone of Palestinian 'embassy' in BrazilMore S. American countries may recognize 'Palestine'Maliki said that Paraguay was also expected to recognize the Palestinian state, with Uruguay following in March.According to Maliki, a Palestinian embassy will be opened in Ecuador, who has already announced its recognition of a Palestinian state.Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday laid the first stone of what is set to become a Palestinian embassy in Brazil.At the beginning of December, Brazil and Argentina recognized the state of Palestine based on borders at the time of Israel's 1967 conquest of the West Bank.The Foreign Ministry came out against Argentina and Brazil's decision to recognize a Palestinian state.“Recognition of a Palestinian state is a violation of the interim agreement signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 1995, which established that the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will be discussed and solved through negotiations.“All attempts to bypass negotiations and to unilaterally determine issues in dispute will only harm the trust of the sides and their commitment to agreed upon frameworks for negotiations,” the statement read.
