Nonexistent ‘State of Palestine’ to Head U.N. Bloc of Developing Countries

The Times of Israel reports: UNITED NATIONS — The State of Palestine was formally handed on Thursday the presidency of the Group of 77, the largest bloc of developing nations at the UN.

The event took place minutes before Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was to take the podium at the UN General Assembly, for a speech in which he was expected to harshly attack Israel.

Palestine — which is not a member state of the UN but has observer state status — was chosen in July to head the so-called G77 plus China, a consortium now consisting of 134 nations that often speaks in one voice at the UN General Assembly, starting January 1, 2019. On Thursday, that decision was confirmed.