France Confirms Plans to Recognize Palestine as a State in September

French President Emmanuel Macron has confirmed that France will begin to recognize Palestine as a state in September, joining 147 other UN members that see the region as a country.

Currently, a total of 146 United Nations member countries recognize Palestine as a state, including most of South America, Africa, and Asia. However, many others, including Canada, Australia, South Korea, and most of Europe, do not see Palestine as a country due to various factors.

One of the most important of these adversaries to Palestine's recognition is the United States. As a close ally of Israel, the US has historically used its veto power in the UN Security Council to prevent Palestine from gaining full membership. China and Russia are the only two permanent members that agree with recognizing Palestine-- the US, UK, and France have rejected the topic whenever it has come up.

Due to this, when Macron made the decision to recognize Palestine as a state, it was taken as a major move across the world, as his actions could motivate other countries, including the United Kingdom, to follow suit.

After making a visit to the Gaza border in April, Macron became motivated to recognize Palestine, and drafted a plan to get other countries involved in his idea. He talked with the UK and Canada, hoping to get them to recognize Palestine, while also communicating with several Arab countries to simultaneously improve their relations with Israel. However, despite his efforts, the plan failed, and both Canada and the UK backed out to avoid going against the United States.

Nevertheless, Macron continued with his plan, and officially announced earlier this week that they would begin recognizing Palestine in September. Israel quickly denounced the statement, along with the US, but President Donald Trump brushed off Macron's actions as insignificant.

Currently, most of eastern Europe still recognizes Palestine, and France's plan has increased pressure on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to follow Macron. Spain, Sweden, and Ireland have been the latest countries to recognize Palestine, making it official in 2024 as part of a coordinated effort to increase international pressure for a two-state solution. Germany and Italy, on the other hand, have both confirmed that they will only recognize Palestine once they are closer to a two-state solution with Israel, while Portugal has stated that they are open to the idea, taking a similar stance to other countries.

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