France is rallying as much support as possible for recognition of the State of Palestine at a United Nations conference to be held in New York on June 17-20. Especially the U.K., the Netherlands and Belgium are called to get on board. Australia is another possibility.
Last week French President Emmanuel Macron said recognition of Palestine was “not only a moral obligation,” but “also a political necessity” as he urged European nations to “harden our collective stance in the coming hours and days” on Israel. “We clearly see that some are trying to make a Palestinian State impossible. But what we are defending is a political outcome to the situation.”
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. was “ready to work with allies and countries in the region” to “do what we can to support the foundations of Palestinian statehood.” France and the U.K. would be the first G7 nations to recognize the State of Palestine. In a statement to Guardian Australia website, a French Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed that it was working with international partners—including Australia—on its four priorities for the summit in New York. These are recognition of a State of Palestine, normalization of relations with countries in the region, reform of the Palestinian Authority, and disarmament of Hamas.
Following Macron’s trip to East Asia in late May, France and Indonesia called for “mutual recognition” between Israel and Palestinians as Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said his Muslim-majority country would formally recognize Israel, but only “if it allowed for a Palestinian state.”
“France and Indonesia stressed that the High-Level International Conference on the peaceful resolution of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-state solution, decided by UNGA resolution A/RES/79/81, would contribute to this goal. They stressed that this conference would be the occasion of designing a credible roadmap for the implementation of the two-state solution, in order to foster lasting peace, security and stability in the region, and to make a useful contribution to resolving the current crisis. France and Indonesia further stressed that the conference’s aim would be to drive a collective recognition of the State of Palestine by all countries with security guarantees for all.”
Alon Pinkas, who had advised four Israeli foreign ministers, said Macron’s push to recognize Palestinian statehood “is serious and has the backing of most of the European Union and Saudi Arabia.” He also said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is unsettled because he knows Donald Trump’s support is brittle and tentative.”
