Sources: UK, France Abandon Plans to Recognize Palestinian State at Conference

Date: 07 June 2025 - 21:34

News ID: ۱۴۰۳۲۵

PARIS (Dispatches) – The UK and France will abandon previous plans to recognize a Palestinian state at an upcoming conference, according to diplomats.
France had been lobbying the UK and other European allies to recognize a Palestinian state at the conference in New York, due to be held between 17 and 20 June.
President Emmanuel Macron had described the move as “a moral duty and political requirement”, suggesting it could come in return for Saudi Arabia recognizing the Zionist regime at the conference.
However, The Guardian has reported that French officials briefed their Israeli counterparts this week that the conference would not be the moment for recognition.
Instead, it will now focus on outlining steps towards recognition, contingent on a series of measures and concessions from the Palestinians.
These will include a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of Israeli captives, reform of the Palestinian Authority, economic reconstruction and the end of Hamas rule in Gaza.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Friday that recognizing a Palestinian state at the conference would have been a “symbolic” decision and said they had a “particular responsibility” as a permanent member of the UN Security Council not to do so without the support of allies.
Kenneth Roth, former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, expressed concerns that the recognition of a Palestinian state could end up being indefinitely delayed by the announced steps.
“Those steps should not be an endless (nonexistent) ‘peace process’ but pressure on Israel to stop obstructing a state,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Although 147 countries recognize the state of Palestine, much of Europe has been reluctant and long stated that such a move could only come with the Zionist regime’s approval and reciprocal moves from Arab states.
Ireland, Spain and Norway recognized a Palestinian state last year, and there has been an increasing consensus that recognition should come unilaterally as a means of pressuring Israel to change tack.
Last week, Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas told Middle East Eye that France’s push to recognize Palestine was “serious and has the backing of most of the European Union and Saudi Arabia”.
However, both the UK and France have faced pressure from the U.S. over the plans, while the Zionist regime has said it would expand its settlements in the occupied West Bank in response.