Towards a snowball effect? After the simultaneous announcement of the recognition of a Palestinian state by Spain, Ireland and Norway on May 28, the question of France’s positioning arises. This “is not a taboo for France”, replies the Quai d’Orsay when questioned by AFP. Paris believes, however, that the conditions are not met “to date for this decision to have a real impact”.
“This decision must be useful, that is to say allow a decisive step forward on the political level,” underlined Stéphane Séjourné, Minister of Foreign Affairs. “In this perspective, it must intervene at the right time so that there is a before and an after,” he added.
Taboo lifted
Since the bloody October 7 attack perpetrated by Hamas on Israeli soil and the overwhelming Israeli response on the Gaza Strip, the tide has turned. “A year ago, French recognition of Palestine was not really a realistic option, at least in the near future. In recent months, there has been a fairly fundamental change,” said Hugh Lovatt, project manager for the Middle East and North Africa program of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
However, France will not go it alone. “I think that France wants to do this with other countries, with Arab countries, as is happening today,” he adds. It then perhaps missed the boat with Spain, Ireland and Norway, but it has changed its position and could “bring in other countries which are hesitant until today”, further analyzes Hugh Lovatt .
Especially since, according to the expert, these announcements coming from three European states “put a certain pressure on Paris to act in the weeks or months to come”. “France is expected on this issue given its status and political weight within the European Union,” continues Hugh Lovatt. She had the chance to do it today, ten years ago, but better late than never. » Paris has also taken sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers guilty of violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. An important measure to “make things happen”, believes Hugh Lovatt.
For a two-state solution
Last February, Emmanuel Macron reached out for this recognition, already affirming that it was no longer “a taboo”. “We owe it to the Palestinians, whose aspirations have been trampled on for too long. We owe it to the Israelis who experienced the greatest anti-Semitic massacre of our century. We owe it to a region that aspires to escape the promoters of chaos and the sowers of revenge,” he argued.
A few weeks after the October 7 attack, the French president defended a “clear French position”, that of “having a historic commitment to Israel and never compromising Israel’s right to live in peace in the region” and to support “the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people and [de] continue to work towards a two-state solution.”