Today, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) held a news conference in New York City where he attacked President Obama’s Middle East policies and called upon the United States to be more stridently supportive of the actions of the Israeli government.

At one point, a reporter asked Perry how he views the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lens of his Christian faith. Perry replied by saying that as a “Christian,” he has a “clear directive to support Israel”:

PERRY: As a Christian I have a clear directive to support Israel, from my perspective its pretty easy both as an American and a Christian. I am going to stand with Israel.

In 2009, Perry struck a similar tone talking with the Weekly Standard. “My faith requires me to support Israel,” he said. One has to wonder what other foreign policy initiatives Perry feels he is directed to take from the Bible.

On Friday, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas laid out his plans to seek full membership at the United Nations Security Council this week. In order for the vote to succeed, it needs nine votes and no veto, and then approval by a two-thirds majority of members of the General Assembly. Alternatively, the Palestinians can seek to win only limited membership as a non-voting member in the General Assembly as a fallback option.

ThinkProgress has reviewed the positions of the 13 Security Council members. Five members are firm supporters of the Palestinian bid, while two, like the United States are opposed. The largest group of countries is the undecided:

FOR THE PALESTINIAN BID

CHINA: The Chinese government announced early this month that it “respects, understands and supports” the Palestinian bid.

INDIA: India, “the first non-Arab state to recognise Palestine in 1988,” announced last week that it would support the Palestinian bid.

LEBANON: Lebanon has announced that it will vote in support of the Palestinian bid.

RUSSIA: Russia announced last week that it will support the Palestinian bid. “We will, of course, vote for any of the Palestinian proposals. But I must say that we did not push them toward this,” said envoy Vitaly Churkin.

SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa announced earlier this month that it will support the Palestinian bid. It will also be actively lobbying African Union member countries to throw their support behind the Palestinians.

UNDECIDED ON THE BID

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: Bosnia and Herzegovina is at this time undecided on how it will vote. The Palestinian delegation has been lobbying them heavily since last week.

BRAZIL: Brazil has not announced an official position on the vote yet. However, a spokesman for Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff did note that the country already recognizes Palestine as a state and that there will be “no change in that position,” signaling that the Brazilians are leaning toward a “yes” vote.

COLOMBIA: Colombia has not announced a strong position on the bid, but they are being heavily lobbied by Israeli officials to oppose the Palestinian move. Colombia has been seeking closer ties with Israel lately.

FRANCE: France has not announced how it will vote on Abbas’ move for full membership. It has offered, however, to support Palestinian efforts to seek limited membership, which they could achieve by going to the General Assembly.

GABON: The Palestinians are currently lobbying Gabon’s government to support their bid. Foreign Policy’s David Bosco argues that they are “on the fence.”

NIGERIA: Israeli officials still consider Nigeria to be “in play” as it is undecided.

PORTUGAL: Portugal remains undecided. Some European Union diplomats expect Portugal to vote in favor.

UNITED KINGDOM: The United Kingdom is “still refusing to clarify exactly how it will vote when Palestinians” bid for full membership. A majority of the British public support the bid.

OPPOSED TO THE BID

GERMANY: Germany is one of the few European Union members who have firmly committed to voting against full membership for Palestine.

UNITED STATES: The United States is strongly opposed to the Palestinian bid. American diplomats and public officials have said that the move would be counterproductive and derail negotiations with Israel. Polling shows that a plurality of Americans support the bid.

While the Palestinians lobby world governments to support their move for membership, a new poll released by the BBC and Globescan finds that global public opinion is leaning in their favor. Forty-nine percent of people in 19 countries polled supported the Palestinian bid and 21 percent were opposed. Support was highest in Egypt with 90 percent of people in favor and 9 percent opposed, and lowest in India, with 32 percent in favor and 25 percent opposed.

This morning, Reuters reports on a new Palestinian effort to persuade the United States and the rest of the world community to support their bid for statehood at the United Nations (U.N.) later this month. The ad features none other than President Obama himself.

Using a portion of Obama’s speech before the United Nations General Assembly in 2010, the ad points out that Obama wanted an agreement for a “new member of the United Nations, an independent, sovereign state of Palestine living in peace with Israel” this year. “If he said it, he must have meant it,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says in the commercial.

Indeed, Obama expressing hope that the Palestinians could achieve statehood this year was a highlight of his U.N. speech last year and drew large applause from attendees. Watch Obama’s words then:

The United Nations Security Council and/or General Assembly are expected to vote on Palestinian statehood within the next two weeks. The United States has been pressuring the Palestinians to drop their statehood bid, while most U.N. member states are expected to support the Palestinian effort.

Foreign Policy’s Josh Rogin notes that the Palestinians are also developing secondary options in case the United States vetoes their bid in the Security Council. One of these options is invoking the Korean War-era U.N. Resolution 377, which would allow the Palestinians to seek a General Assembly vote to be a non-member state. Under the guidelines of this resolution, the Palestinians would need nine out of 15 Security Council votes to refer the matter to the General Assembly. Another option being floated is to repeatedly go to the Security Council, forcing the United States to veto again and again.