Useful idiot.

(Reuters) — President Barack Obama is an unlikely participant in a Palestinian campaign to drum up support for a bid to win U.N. recognition of their statehood — a diplomatic move opposed by both his administration and Israel.

But as part of an official media campaign begun this week, Palestinians have pulled from the archive some words spoken by Obama during the 2010 U.N. General Assembly, in which he alluded to the prospect of a Palestinian state joining the world body.

“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 says in his 2010 speech.

Although described by U.S. officials as no more than an expression of hope, the Obama remarks are one factor cited by Palestinians when explaining their push for U.N. membership at this year’s General Assembly, due to convene in a few weeks.

“If he said it, he must have meant it,” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says during a 36-second radio spot.

The ad is a reflection of Palestinian frustration with the Obama administration. The Palestinians feel Obama let them down, notably by failing to convince Israel to halt Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — part of the territories where they seek an independent state.

Though the U.S. president’s remarks were hedged, Abbas has described the statement as the “Obama promise.”