The 80th United Nations General Assembly begins this Monday (22) in New York under the weight of simultaneous crises: the war in Ukraine, the violation of Estonia airspace and, above all, the impasse in the Middle East.
The first day has already been marked by a gesture of great political impact: France has announced that it will make official recognition of the State of Palestine, in a decision that directly confronts the position of Israel and the United States.
The French movement takes place in conjunction with Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, Andorra and San Marino. Added to countries that formalized support on Sunday, such as United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada and Australia, there are already more than 145 of 193 UN members to recognize Palestine as a state.
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Algeria, the first to make this decision in 1988, paved the way for the adhesion of African countries, part of Eastern Europe and Russia.
Resistance and reprisal
Israel and USA keep firmly opposed to recognition, and Berlin and Rome also discard the initiative in the short term. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed that “there will never be a Palestinian state” and threatened to expand the colonization of the West Bank in response.
Washington has indicated that he could adopt measures of diplomatic retaliation against Paris and other European governments who adhere to the movement.
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For UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the risk of retaliation should not stop the decision. He classified Israeli politics as an “insidious annexation” and recalled that United Nations experts accused the Netanyahu government of “genocide” in Gaza, where more than 65,000 most civilly Palestinians have died since the start of the war in October 2023.
Abbas speaks by video
Prevented from traveling to New York after not receiving a visa, the president of Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, will speak for video conferencing. In a statement, he called the recognitions “an essential step for just and lasting peace.”
The expectation now turns to Tuesday, when US President Donald Trump will climb to the podium. Netanyahu should speak on Friday, in a speech awaited for the promise of defending Israeli military strategy almost two years after the Hamas attack, which left more than 1,200 dead in Israel.
