In the final stretch before the European elections on June 9, the recognition of a Palestinian state has become a major topic in the French campaign. While Spain, Ireland and Norway have formally recognized the State of Palestine in a bid to preserve what remains of the “two-state solution” against the backdrop of the Israeli offensive in Rafah, France continues to delay. Believing it to be an inopportune moment, Paris chose not to follow in the footsteps of its European neighbors, but is nonetheless examining the terms and conditions of a possible recognition.
“I am completely ready to recognize a Palestinian state, but (…) I believe that this recognition must come at a useful time,” said President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, May 28, alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, at the end of his state visit to Germany. “I won’t do a recognition out of emotion,” he warned. On the same day, the question was the subject of heated debate at the Assemblée Nationale.
“I’m disappointed,” reacted Raphaël Glucksmann, the Socialists’ lead candidate for the European Parliament, on the television channel LCI later that evening. He accused Macron of putting off the decision indefinitely. To his left, the radical left party La France Insoumise has been actively pushing for the recognition of a Palestinian state.
Macron’s former foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who is heading the support committee for Valérie Hayer, the ruling coalition’s lead candidate in the European elections, has said that the diplomatic gesture has become “indispensable.” The right and the far right, meanwhile, are opposed to recognition, as they are careful not to go against the Netanyahu government, which sees the move as “a reward for terrorism” and rejects the two-state solution.
Nevertheless, the State of Palestine is now recognized by 145 of the United Nations’ 193 member states, according to the Palestinian Authority. This includes 11 of the 27 member states of the European Union (EU), most recently Spain and Ireland. Slovenia is also engaged in a recognition process, which should be completed on Tuesday, June 4, with a vote in Parliament. None of the G7 countries has gone that far. Where should France stand?
Elie Barnavi, Israel’s former ambassador to Paris, who is in favor of recognition as an essential step, in his view, for what comes after the fighting in Gaza, has said he tried to convince the French presidency’s diplomatic team to take such a step – to no avail, at this stage.
The search for a “useful dynamic”
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