France will recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September, French president Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, adding he hoped it would help bring peace to the region.
Mr Macron’s decision has been described as “reckless” by US secretary of state Marco Rubio. He said the move “only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th.”
The announcement also led to a harsh response from Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who rejects Palestinian statehood.
The Israeli government argues its offensive in Gaza is necessary to topple and disarm Hamas after the militant group killed 1,200 people and abducted 250 in the October 7th, 2023, assault on southern Israel. Of the hostages, 50 are still in Gaza, with roughly 20 thought by Israel to still be alive.
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“We strongly condemn President Macron’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state next to Tel Aviv in the wake of the Oct 7 massacre,” Mr Netanyahu said in a social media posting. “Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became.”
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz described the move as “a disgrace and a surrender to terrorism”, adding Israel would not allow the establishment of a “Palestinian entity that would harm our security, endanger our existence”.
Germany is not planning to recognise a Palestinian state in the short term and said its priority now is to make “long-overdue progress” towards a two-state solution, a German government spokesperson said on Friday.
“Israel’s security is of paramount importance to the German government,” said the spokesperson. “The German government therefore has no plans to recognise a Palestinian state in the short term.”
In Britain, a cabinet minister has defended the government’s resistance to calls for the UK to recognise a Palestinian state immediately amid mounting global anger over the starving population in Gaza.
Technology secretary Peter Kyle insisted prime minister Keir Starmer wants sovereignty agreed “more than anyone” but said the status must be reached as part of a political process.
Israel has been waging a devastating war in Gaza since the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel in October 2023.
Talks for a ceasefire in Gaza were dealt a new blow on Thursday after the US and Israel withdrew their negotiating teams.
Mr Macron, who announced the decision on X, published a letter sent to Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas confirming France’s intention to become the first major western power to recognise a Palestinian state.
“True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the state of Palestine,” Mr Macron said.
“I will make this solemn announcement at the United Nations General Assembly next September.”
France, home to Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities, will become the first major western country to recognise a Palestinian state, potentially giving greater momentum to a movement so far dominated by smaller nations that are generally more critical of Israel.
In a diplomatic cable in June, the United States said it opposed any steps that would unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state even saying it could go against US foreign policy interests and draw consequences.
Tánaiste Simon Harris hailed the French decision as “an important contribution towards implementing” the two-state solution.
Mr Macron had been leaning towards recognising a Palestinian state for months as part of a bid to keep the idea of a two-state solution alive despite the pressure not to do so.
French officials initially weighed up the move before a United Nations conference that France and Saudi Arabia had planned to co-host in June to lay out the parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel’s security.
The conference was postponed under US pressure and after the 12-day Israel-Iran air war began, during which regional air space was closed, making it hard for representatives of some Arab states to attend.
It was rescheduled and downgraded to a ministerial event on July 28th-29th with a second event taking place with heads of state and government on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September.
The decision to make the announcement before next week’s conference aimed to give the French team at the UN a framework to work with other countries who are also considering recognising a Palestinian state or still have misgivings in doing so.
Diplomats say Mr Macron has faced resistance from allies such as Britain and Canada over his push for the recognition of a Palestinian state. Some 40 foreign ministers will be in New York next week.
Israeli officials have spent months lobbying to prevent what some have described as “a nuclear bomb” for bilateral relations.
The idea that France, one of Israel’s closest allies and a G7 member, could recognise a Palestinian state, would certainly infuriate Mr Netanyahu.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Israel’s warnings to France have ranged from scaling back intelligence sharing to complicating Paris’s regional initiatives – even hinting at possible annexation of parts of the West Bank.
Thanking France, the Palestinian Authority’s vice-president, Hussein Al Sheikh, said on X that Macron’s decision reflected “France’s commitment to international law and its support for the Palestinian people’s rights to self-determination and the establishment of our independent state”. – Reuters, additional reporting by staff
