UNITED NATIONS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday recognized a Palestinian state, leading a UN summit that already spurred other Western governments to take the landmark step that has infuriated Israel.
“The time for peace has come, as we are just moments away from no longer being able to seize it,” Macron told the summit.
“The time has come to free the 48 hostages held by Hamas. The time has come to stop the war, the bombings of Gaza, the massacres and the displacement,” Macron said.
Australia, Britain, Canada and Portugal also took the largely symbolic step of recognition on the eve of the summit called by France and Saudi Arabia, piling pressure on Israel as it intensifies its retaliatory war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Macron earlier said he would make the release of hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel a precondition for opening a French embassy to the Palestinian state.
Israel has repeatedly warned France against recognizing a Palestinian state, with far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government mulling annexation of the West Bank to make any state impossible.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, warned, “We will take action.”
“It’s easier to come here and give speeches, take pictures, feel like they are doing something. But they are not promoting peace. They are supporting terrorism,” he told reporters.
The United States, Israel’s crucial diplomatic and military supporter, had unsuccessfully urged its allies to drop the recognition plans, with President Donald Trump saying that a state can only come through negotiations.
“Frankly, he believes it’s a reward to Hamas,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said of recognizing a Palestinian state.
“So he believes these decisions are just more talk and not enough action from some of our friends and allies,” she told reporters in Washington.
Germany, while more critical than Washington of Israel’s actions in Gaza, also broke with France and Britain and will not recognize a Palestinian state.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that “a negotiated two-state solution is the path that can allow Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace, security and dignity.”
More than 140 world leaders will descend on New York but not Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who was denied a visa by the US authorities, forcing him to attend virtually.
Israel said it would skip an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Gaza Tuesday because of the Jewish New Year, calling the timing “regrettable.” Netanyahu reiterated Sunday his position that there would be no Palestinian state and vowed to accelerate the creation of new settlements.
Two far-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, went further, calling for the annexation of the West Bank. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told AFP Friday “we should not feel intimidated by the risk of retaliation.” Macron had voiced exasperation at Israel’s prolonged offensive as he decided to recognize a Palestinian state.
Britain, which more than a century ago declared support for a Jewish homeland, held out the possibility of backing down on recognition of a Palestinian state if Israel agreed on a ceasefire in Gaza. But the historic step also is unlikely to have much effect on the ground.
“Unless backed up by concrete measures, recognizing Palestine as a state risks becoming a distraction from the reality, which is an accelerating erasure of Palestinian life in their homeland,” said the International Crisis Group’s Israel-Palestine project director, Max Rodenbeck.
The October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 Israelis, mostly civilians, according to official data. Israeli military operations since then have killed 65,062 Palestinians, mostly civilians, says the Hamas-run health ministry, figures the UN considers reliable.
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