Chile’s recognition of an independent Palestinian state is “useless” and will not help advance peace, a senior Israeli official told AFP Saturday.

“It is a useless and empty gesture because it will not change anything,” the official said a day after Chile announced it has recognised Palestine as an independent state, in the footsteps of other Latin American countries.

“It will not advance the cause of peace by an inch,” said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Chilean government adopted Friday a resolution “recognising the existence of the state of Palestine as a free, independent and sovereign state,” Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno said in Santiago.

“The Chilean announcement, like those preceding it in Latin America, will not encourage the Palestinians to negotiate,” the Israeli official said.

He noted, however, that Chile did not mention the thorny issue of the borders of the Palestinian state and called for a resumption of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

“Santiago has shown realism and a sense of responsibility by expressing positions which are very close to ours.”

Late last year, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador recognised Palestine as an independent state which they said was “within the 1967 borders.”

Those were the boundaries that existed before Israel captured the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in the June 1967 Six-Day War.

The borders of a final Palestinian state have been one of the thorniest issues in peace negotiations with Israel.

Direct talks between the two sides, the first for nearly two years, began on September 2 but stalled after a 10-month Israeli settlement-building freeze expired three weeks later.

In a New Year’s Eve address, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas urged the international community to come up with a new peace plan after months of US shuttle diplomacy failed to secure a fresh settlement freeze.