"Despite U.S. and Israeli objections, the Palestinian Authority has applied for full U.N. membership and recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submitted the application to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sept. 23.

Ban immediately passed it to the U.N. Security Council, which took its first step on Sept. 28 by handing it to a standing committee that will review and assess the application.
Israel and the United States oppose the Palestinian membership bid, saying it is aimed at de-legitimizing Israel. They say the only way Palestine can get statehood is through direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.[...]

The Security Council's standing committee on admitting new members includes all 15 council members. The committee will review and assess the Palestinian request for membership. [...] Unlike the full Security Council, the standing committee makes decisions on the basis of a simple majority and none of the five permanent council members can use its veto power.
That means the Palestinians only need the support of eight of the 15 council members to get a positive recommendation from the committee. Even if its membership bid fails, a positive recommendation from the committee would likely be seen as a political victory for the Palestinians.
The committee is expected to report back to the Security Council on the status of its work by Oct. 18. [...]

HOW LONG WILL THE PROCESS TAKE?
In theory, the Palestinian application could sit in the committee indefinitely. However, council diplomats say that is unlikely. A Sept. 23 statement by the "Quartet" of Middle East peace negotiators -- the United States, Russia, the European Union and United nations -- called on Israel and the Palestinians to meet within one month to agree on an agenda to resurrect stalled peace talks.
In keeping with that timeline, Western diplomats said they would expect the standing committee to produce a report on the Palestinian application for the council by Oct. 23 or shortly thereafter.
A Security Council vote on the Palestinian membership application would likely happen at the end of this month or in November. It is unlikely the process would run into 2012, diplomats said.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE APPLICATION IS REJECTED?
The Palestinians have suggested that they would seek upgraded observer status within the United Nations. They are currently listed as an observer "entity" with no voting rights. They could ask the General Assembly to make them a non-member observer state, like the Vatican, which would be an indirect recognition of statehood. That would require a simple majority vote in the assembly and would enable them to join a number of U.N. agencies, as well as the International Criminal Court." http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/10/06/idINIndia-59736420111006

A simple majority of 193 member states means 97 votes; the symbolic two thirds majority (needed for full recognition in case of an approval by the Security Council) consists of 129 votes.