Palestine has continued to ratchet up pressure on the international community with its plans to present a bid for recognition of statehood come autumn.

The Palestinians plan to present their plea to the United Nations in September, largely seen as a symbolic move, but Palestinians hope it will pressure Israel to withdraw from captured territories they claim for a future state.

Both sides have been lobbying hard. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already visited Britain and France, among other countries.

The European Union is working to forge a common position on the issue even as EU countries are split over Palestinian statehood. France has said it will support recognition if negotiations between Israel and Palestinians don’t restart by September, while Germany and Italy are likely to oppose it.

Malta has traditionally advocated a two-state solution, but nothing has been heard in recent months. The move to support Palestinian statehood was first given a serious push by former Foreign Minister and President Guido de Marco, since passed. Prof de Marco fostered good relations with the then PLO leader Yasser Arafat in his later years, after having ditched terrorism.

In the meantime, the Government of Malta and the Malta Labour Party have maintained good relations, also lending support to the Palestinian cause. However, the State has stopped short of ‘interfering’ in Middle East politics.

The death of Arafat and of course, the Fatah and Hamas split affected ties, but Malta has always been seen as an advocate to a two-state solution, achieved through dialogue from all concerned. While Malta and Israel deny that there has been any cooling in relations (after the BWSC allegations and ‘personal’ phone calls), the perception still lingers that there is something not quite right with relations between the two sides. Israel has also gone to great lengths to point out that the postponement of a visit to Israel by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, has not been affected or influenced by external factors and is still in the pipeline.

Perhaps that visit will materialise soon as Netanyahu and Israel continue to seek more support to oppose Palestinian statehood. Whatever the case may be, Malta might find that it has to take an official position, as the EU tries to find a common position on the issue, come September.