French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday that he will recognize the Palestinian state, which has generated strong criticism from Israel and the United States, as well as paving the way for other major nations, such as the United Kingdom and Canada, can follow the same example.
Macron published a letter in the X, which was sent to the president of Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to proceed with recognition and work to convince other countries to do the same.
He said he will make a formal announcement before the United Nations General Assembly in September. In this way, France became the first great western country to change the diplomatic position in relation to the Palestinian state, after Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognized him last year.
Why is this decision significant?
The decision to recognize the Palestinian state is largely symbolic, with Israel occupying the territories where Palestinians have long sought to establish this state in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as capital.
But France’s decision, which houses the largest Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe, can feed a movement hitherto dominated by smaller nations, usually those who criticize Israel.
The decision also makes Israel seem more isolated on the international scenario in relation to war in Gaza, which suffers from a hunger wave that, according to the head of WHO (World Health Organization), is equivalent to man -made mass hunger.
Israel claims to be committed to allowing humanitarian aid in Gaza, but needs to control it to prevent it from being stolen by militants. Israel claims to let enough food into the territory during the war and blame Hamas for the suffering of the more than 2 million inhabitants of Gaza.
Why did you do this and how do you affect relationships with Israel?
Macron had been inclined to this decision for months, as part of an attempt to keep the idea of a two -state solution alive, despite the pressure not to adopt it.
He decided to do so before a conference of the UN coorganized by France and the Saudi Arabia on the same subject that will happen next week to try to convince other countries to consider this measure, or those who are hesitant.
Prior to Macron’s announcement, Israeli authorities spent months preventing this type of decision to prevent some “nuclear bomb” in bilateral relations.
Sources familiar with the subject state that Israel’s alerts to France ranged from the reduction of intelligence sharing to the complication of Paris regional initiatives, even implying the possible attachment of parts of the West Bank.
Who can make the same decision?
France’s decision can press large countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Canada and Japan to go the same way. In the short term, Malta and Belgium may be the next countries of the European Union to do so.
A British minister said on Friday (25) that the United Kingdom supports the eventual recognition of a Palestinian state, but that the immediate priority should be relieving suffering in Gaza and ensuring a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The short term, but its priority is to do “long -awaited progress” towards a two -state solution – Israel and a Palestinian state coexisting in peace.
Which countries already recognize the Palestinian state?
Last year, Ireland, Norway, and Spain recognized the Palestinian state with their borders demarcated as they were before the 1967 Middle East War, when Israel won the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
However, they also recognized that these borders can change in any negotiations to reach a final agreement, and that decisions have not diminished belief in Israel’s fundamental right to exist in peace and security.
About 144 of 193 nations that are part of the UN recognize Palestine as a state, including most of the southern hemisphere, as well as Russia, China and India. But only some of the 27 members of the European Union do so, including Sweden and Cyprus.
The UN General Assembly approved the recognition of the Palestinian State in November 2012, raising the status in the world organism from “entity” to “non-member state”.
How did the US, Israel and Palestinians react?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned France’s decision, one of Israel’s closest allies and a member of the G7, stating that such a “rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian representative.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described the decision as “a shame and a surrender to terrorism.” He added that Israel would not allow the establishment of a “Palestinian entity that would harm our safety and endanger our existence.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States “The Plan (de Macron) to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly.”
“This reckless decision only serves to propagate Hamas and impairs peace,” Rubio has published in X. “It is a slap in the face of the victims of October 7” – a reference to the attack of Hamas against Israel in 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.
Thanking France, the vice president of Palestinian Authority, Hussein Al Sheikh, said Macron’s decision reflected “France’s commitment to international law and its support for the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of our independent state.”
The Palestinian OLP (OLP) recognized Israel’s right to exist at the beginning of the US supported peace process in 1993, which established the Palestinian authority in what Palestinians expected to be an impetus for the creation of a state.
But Hamas and other militants who have long dominated Gaza and often confront Israeli forces in the West Bank reject Israel’s recognition.
