France Recognizes Palestinian State at UNGA as Hamas Calls To Isolate Israel

Latest Developments

• Macron Claims Recognition Will Sideline Hamas: France and five other European states recognized a Palestinian state at a “Two-State Solution” summit co-hosted with Saudi Arabia at the UN General Assembly on September 22. During an interview on September 21, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the recognition wave, which he initiated in July, is intended “to stop this war” and “isolate Hamas [through] the recognition process, and the peace plan which goes with this recognition process is a precondition.” Other states to announce recognition of a Palestinian state include Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, Andorra, and San Marino, following the recognitions announced earlier by the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Portugal.
• PA Reforms Needed: Macron stated that additional moves to normalize diplomatic relations with a Palestinian state will be contingent on reforms by the Palestinian Authority (PA), including keeping to its promise to hold elections within a year, reforming its education system, and completely disarming Hamas. He added that Hamas must free all 48 of its hostages before France opens an embassy. On September 22, Macron announced that the PA had arrested Mahmoud Khader Abed Adra, 70, also known as Hicham Harb, who is alleged to have directed and participated in a 1982 terrorist attack at a kosher restaurant in Paris’s Jewish quarter in which six people died, including two Americans. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot claimed that the arrest of Harb in Ramallah, 43 years after the attack, was the “fruit” of France’s recognition of a Palestinian state.
• Hamas Seeks Punitive Measures Against Israel: The Iran-backed terrorist organization Hamas has welcomed the slew of recognitions, calling “on the international community, the United Nations, and its institutions to isolate this rogue entity (Israel), cease all forms of cooperation and coordination with it, escalate punitive measures against it, and work to bring its leaders, war criminals, to international courts and hold them accountable for their crimes against humanity.” Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that Israel will give a response to “the latest attempt to force upon us a terror state in the heart of our land” when he returns from the UN General Assembly in New York. “There will be no Palestinian state to the west of the Jordan River,” he declared.

FDD Expert Response

“These recognitions undermine the long-established ‘land for peace’ legal framework for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, set forth in Security Council Resolution 242 and the Oslo Accords, which provides that Palestinian statehood can only come as part of a negotiated solution to the conflict, in which Israel receives peace in return. Hamas is emboldened to continue holding hostages and obstructing a ceasefire, and the PA has no incentive to take concrete steps toward peace, when European leaders like Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer recognize Palestinian statehood without Israel receiving peace in return.” — Orde Kittrie, Senior Fellow

“Recognizing a Palestinian state as an attack on Israel is misguided. Statehood recognition should come after the Palestinians create a functioning state, not before, and it should be built on tangibly achieving statehood, not promises of future reform. Premature recognition will delay an actual state from forming.” — David May, Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst

“The desperately poor record of the Palestinian Authority in maintaining its commitments does not bode well for Macron’s high-minded ambitions. By the time the UN General Assembly meets again next year, it will be painfully clear that this recognition wave was purely performative and didn’t bring the declared goal of a Palestinian state peacefully coexisting alongside the State of Israel one step closer.” — Ben Cohen, Senior Analyst and Rapid Response Director

FDD Background and Analysis

“‘Failure of Political, Moral, and Diplomatic Leadership’: UK, Canada, Australia Recognize Palestinian State,” FDD Flash Brief

“Palestine recognition would reward terrorism and contradict international law,” by Irwin Cotler and Orde Kittrie

“British and French Recognition of Palestine Will Reward Terrorism, Endanger European Security,” by Orde Kittrie

“‘Misguided And Ill-Timed’: UN General Assembly Approves Palestinian Statehood Resolution,” FDD Flash Brief