Lebanon will vote for UN recognition of a PA state by the United Nations when it takes over the Presidency of the Security Council in September.

Nadim Shehadi, associate fellow at the London-based think tank Chatham House, said that Lebanon could afford to be more direct over the PA statehood bid than it had been in previous Security Council decisions.

“The eternal question that’s related to Lebanon’s presidency and membership of Security Council is how much of it is Lebanon representing itself and how much is Lebanon representing the Arab group,” he said. “I think the answer is ambiguous and that’s how it should be, because clear answers sometimes cause trouble."

“This time it won’t be such a controversial issue because there is more or less Arab consensus on this. There aren’t any serious contradictions and the policy of Lebanon is clear on this: That we support [Palestinian statehood],” Shehadi added.

Lebanon's tenure on the Security Council in 2011 has been busy. It voted in favor of NATO intervention in Libya but declined to join in the rest of the international community in condemning the actions of Syrian security forces.

But many analysts say the Mikati-government's UN representatives have voted in lockstep with the positions of the Hizbullah terror organization that now-dominations the nation's politics. Shehadi admitted Hizbullah's involvement on Lebanon’s political scene was to blame for its inconsistent stance on international foreign policy.

“Because of the division in the country, Lebanon’s foreign policy is divided on the matter of Syria, on anything related to Hizbullah’s arms, and its Security Council votes reflect that,” he said. “But there are no significant divisions on [PA statehood].”

While the timing of the vote has raised some eyebrows, Elias Muhanna, who runs the Lebanese political blog Qifa Nabki, said that it was unlikely the Palestinian Authority had planned to coincide with Lebanon’s tenure as Security Council president.

“It’s sort of coincidental that Lebanon is leading the Security Council when the vote is coming up. I don’t think they planned that. But there is some nice symbolism there and will give Lebanon a chance to champion the Palestinian cause,” he said. “They would vote in favor of statehood no matter what. Europeans are already looking favorably at this; the only opponents are the US and Israel and those whom they can pressure."

Critics of Lebanon's presidency of the Security Council continue to ask what is symbolized by a vote for PA statehood cast by nation dominated by a terror group bent on Israel's destruction.