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(CN) — In a bid to revive peace efforts in the Middle East, France on Monday joined the United Kingdom and Canada as the first G7 nations to recognize a Palestinian state.
French President Emmanuel Macron backed Palestinian statehood on Monday at an event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Macron has spearheaded a campaign to get Western nations to recognize Palestine as a state.
“The time for peace has come,” Macron said as he warned the Middle East conflict could turn even worse unless a Palestinian state is created. “We bear the collective responsibility for having failed to bring about a just and lasting peace.”
“Some might say it’s too late, some might say it’s too early, but one thing is certain: We can no longer wait,” Macron said.
With hundreds of thousands of Palestinians being displaced by Israel’s invasion, he said “nothing justifies the war in Gaza anymore.”
On Sunday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said they too would recognize Palestinian statehood. Australia, Andorra, Belgium, Portugal, Malta, Luxembourg and San Marino also said they will support Palestinian statehood at this week’s U.N. meeting.
“The hope for a two-state solution is fading, but we cannot let that light go out,” Starmer said in avideo statement. “Today, to revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution, I state clearly as prime minister of this great country that the United Kingdom formally recognizes the state of Palestine.”
Recognition of a Palestinian state, though, is mostly a symbolic gesture because there is little prospect Israel will allow a Palestinian state to come into existence, especially under the far-right government led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
And even as the policy shift was hailed as historic, Macron, Starmer and Carney still faced severe criticism for not going much further than simply recognizing a Palestinian state, a position already supported by about 75% of the world’s governments.
With U.N. investigatorsrecently calling Israel’s onslaught in Gaza a genocide, Western leaders are under pressure to impose sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel, support the prosecution of Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders for war crimes, suspend cultural, sporting and academic links with Israel until it agrees to a ceasefire and demand Israel stop expanding settlements in occupied Palestinian territories and allow Palestinians to return to their homes.
In response to the push to recognize Palestine, Netanyahu’s government defiantly vowed it would not allow a Palestinian state and suggested it would consider annexing parts of the occupied West Bank.
A prospective Palestinian state, as proposed by the U.N. in a 1947 plan to partition the British Mandate for Palestine and in later peace talks, would be made up of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
About 5 million Palestinians live within these areas, known as the occupied Palestinian territories. But there are no settled borders designating a Palestinian state and no single government that oversees them.
On Sunday, Netanyahu said the creation of a Palestinian state would “endanger our existence and constitute an absurd prize for terrorism.” His government sought to equate recognition of Palestine as giving in to the terrorist tactics of Hamas. Netanyahu has spent his political career opposed to a two-state solution, undermining efforts to create a Palestinian state.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, said Israel should annex all of the West Bank to prevent a Palestinian state.
“The days when Britain and other countries would determine our future are over," Smotrich said on social media. “The only response to this anti-Israeli move is sovereignty over the historic homeland of the Jewish people in Judea and Samaria, and permanently removing the folly of a Palestinian state from the agenda.”
Netanyahu is expected to announce what actions his government may take to counter the recognition of Palestine after he visits Washington next week.
Saudi Arabia has warned that West Bank annexation would have “major implications” while the United Arab Emirates called annexation a “red line.”
Macron’s Middle East adviser, Ofer Bronchtein, said in an interview that recognition of Palestine would be a “small diplomatic tsunami” that could force Netanyahu’s government to back down from its invasion of Gaza.
In recent comments, Macron has argued that reviving talks on a two-state solution would undercut the power of Hamas and restore Israel’s reputation. He also said France would not open an embassy in Palestine until Hamas releases Israelis taken hostage during its attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
Meanwhile, Macron was working with Arab and Muslim leaders to propose a plan for a U.N.-mandated international stabilization force in Gaza that would oversee the disarmament of Hamas and help train a Palestinian Authority police force. The proposal is expected to win U.N. endorsement Monday.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.
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