The Israeli Parliament rejects by a large majority the recognition of the Palestinian state | International

“I thank the deputies, including those of the opposition, for having approved by a huge majority my proposal to reject the unilateral dictation of the creation of a Palestinian state…”, the Israeli Prime Minister began to say this Wednesday in Parliament, Benjamin Netanyahu, when Ahmad Tibi, leader of the Arab Taal party, interrupted him by shouting from his seat: “A Palestinian state will be created!” Despite your words, it will be created! After two warnings, he was expelled.

In this context, the Knesset gave the green light to a text, presented by Netanyahu and unanimously approved by his concentration government, which rejects both “international diktats on a permanent agreement with the Palestinians” and recognition unilateral action of the State of Palestine. , to which the United Nations General Assembly granted the status of non-member observer country in 2012. “Such a declaration after the massacre of October 7 would give an enormous and unprecedented reward to terrorism and prevent any future peace agreement”, underlines -he. Of the 120 deputies, 99 from different political parties voted in favor of its resolution and only 9 against, from Arab parties.

Netanyahu explained the importance of his initiative on Monday: “In recent days, we have witnessed a new form of international pressure: an attempt to unilaterally impose the creation of a Palestinian state on us. The predictable massive support, he ventures, “will clearly show the world that there is a very broad consensus within Israel against international attempts to force us to create a Palestinian state that would endanger the existence of the State of Israel. “We completely reject it.” The Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling the decision “invalid, illegitimate and illegal” and stressing that recognition of the State of Palestine by other countries or full membership “does not require not Netanyahu’s permission.”

If the Knesset addressed the issue this Wednesday, a decade after the vote at the United Nations, it is precisely because the war in Gaza brought these two ideas out of the closet: the need to promote the two-state solution, after years of defense on the role of the international community; and – more timidly – ​​the recognition of the Palestinian state, which has an essentially symbolic dimension. Israel calls it unilateral because it is not happening as part of a negotiated peace deal.

Currently, 139 of the 193 member states of the United Nations recognize the State of Palestine, with a clear division between the West – which generally does not – and the rest of the world, including two permanent members of the Security Council: China and Russia. Palestine has observer status because full membership depends on a positive vote by the Security Council. It was not even voted on due to the certainty that at least the United States would veto it.

Several national parliaments of EU countries, such as Spain, then approved motions to recognize it. In the end, Sweden was the only Community country to do so after joining the Union, but this did not generate the expected domino effect. She remained alone and the momentum ended up diluting.

Today, Spain plans to imitate it alone. “We would like to do this with the greatest possible consensus within the EU, but of course we exclude nothing (…). Spain is a sovereign state and makes its decisions in a sovereign manner,” Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told parliament last month.

Prank

But what was really worrying this Wednesday in the Knesset was the information, then denied, according to which the great American ally – who this Tuesday vetoed for the third time a ceasefire proposal in Gaza at the UN after more than four months of war – considered recognizing the Palestinian state as part of a plan to promote peace in the region. This was manifested in the intervention in Parliament of former Prime Minister and opposition leader Yair Lapid, when he explained his position to Netanyahu: “I have no problem voting for it. We are against unilateral measures, (but) you invented a threat that does not exist. (…) My ties with the American administration are better than yours and it’s a hoax. “There is no official actor in the world proposing unilateral recognition of the Palestinian state. »

The other idea that has gained traction is the need to take the two-state solution seriously to end the Middle East conflict. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, even asserts that “it must be imposed from abroad”. Netanyahu rejects it, as he recalled last Monday, by boasting of having stopped it during his political career, even if he defended it verbally, under pressure from the President of the United States of era, Barack Obama: “Everyone knows that it was me who for decades blocked the creation of a Palestinian state.

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