Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has officially changed the name of the his government to the State of Palestine as a step toward gaining “real independence,” he said yesterday.
All official stamps, stationery and documents will now bear the new name — switched from the Palestinian Authority.
The move comes on the heels of a largely symbolic November decision by the United Nations to upgrade Palestine’s status to a “nonmember observer state.”
Israel, which objected to the Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations, still controls most of the West Bank.
“Palestine is no more a state today than it was on Nov. 28,’’ Nathan Thrall, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, told The Wall Street Journal.
“There’s only going to be more disappointment and more pressure on the leadership as they are ridiculed for changing their letterhead.’’