Google has changed the title on the homepage of its Palestinian edition from “Palestinian Territories” to “Palestine.”
In a statement to the BBC Friday, Google spokesman Nathan Tyler said the company was “following the lead” of several bodies, including the United Nations, in adopting the change across its products.
In November, the United Nations granted Palestine the status of “non-member observer state.”
The Palestinian Authority welcomed Google's decision, the BBC reported.
Israel considers any formal use of the word Palestine as pre-judging the outcome of currently stalled peace talks.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Yigal Palmor, told The Times of Israel Friday that “Google is not a political or diplomatic entity, so they can call anything by any name, it has no diplomatic or political significance.”
