Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will submit an application for Palestinian statehood to the United Nations Sept. 20 — and the United States will veto the bid. Abbas has said he is prepared to accept that veto and “will continue to cooperate with the Americans.” But, in the meantime, he is doing his best to suggest President Obama, at least, supports the idea of a Palestinian state. Politico reports:

Part of a speech Obama gave in 2010 to the United Nations General Assembly is featured in an ad aimed to rally support for the Palestinians upcoming bid for statehood at the United Nations on Sept. 20, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

“When we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that can lead to a new member of the United Nations, an independent, sovereign state of Palestine living in peace with Israel,” Obama said in the 2010 speech in the clip that is played in the radio ad.

The Palestinians’ use of the remarks is at odds with the Obama administration’s current all-out push to stop the Palestinians from pursuing their statehood bid. U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East David Hale is set to hold talks Wednesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to urge him to reconsider the statehood effort and instead return to direct negotiations with Israel.

During the 36-second radio spot starring Obama, Abbas tells listeners “If he said it, he must have meant it.”

Oh, Abbas. How very poorly you know our president. He says so very many things he doesn’t mean — including outright lies. Remember when he said he wanted $4 trillion in deficit reduction? When he said, “If you like your healthcare coverage, you can keep it”? When he said the stimulus would cap unemployment at no more than 8 percent?

Nevertheless, it doesn’t change how chilling Obama’s actual quote is. Abbas is calling the statement “Obama’s promise” — and, isolated from the context of the speech, it does sound a bit like a promise, doesn’t it? U.S. officials describe the statement simply as “an expression of hope” — and those, we know, the president is particularly adept at delivering.

But, in this, as in other recent remarks, BHO’s rhetorical ability is coming back to bite him. He can’t throw out a quote calling for a return to 1967 borders or a quote like that featured in the radio ad without revealing that he’s no friend to Israel. Nor can he back off of those quotes — or his other empty policy statements — without revealing that he’s consistently afraid to back up what he says with action for fear of political backlash. While I’m grateful that’s the case when it comes to his remarks about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the pattern is still unimpressive for a president. Pretty soon, he’ll find out his words count for nothing — and then where will he be? Words were all he had in the first place.