Israel comes under pressure as UK, Malta plan official recognition in September

The tide may be turning in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the United Kingdom and Malta becoming the latest Western countries after France to announce that they will recognize a Palestinian state in September, experts say.

High-level representatives at a United Nations conference in New York on Tuesday, cochaired by Saudi Arabia and France, also urged Israel to commit to a Palestinian state, as well as a two-state solution, in hopes of bringing one of the world's longest conflicts spanning over seven decades to an end.

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However, experts said a Palestinian statehood should not be used as a bargaining chip. Instead, with the increasing number of countries announcing their support for a Palestinian state, it is time for Israel to change its course, and for countries to stop their support for Israel's violence.

Gokhan Ereli, Gulf studies coordinator at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Turkiye, said that the increasing willingness of states to recognize Palestine is fostering an international commitment to the two-state solution. Given its continuous conduct in Gaza, Israel is "actually opposing the entire international community with its policies", he added.

Ereli noted that international support for the two-state solution "will not directly impact Israel's security in practice", as Israel has already securitized the issue to an extremely high degree and considers it an internal problem rather than an international one.

"However, as has been seen before, Israel could use such international pressure as justification for new military policies in redesigning Gaza," he added.

In a statement published on the UK government website on Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said their goal "remains a safe and secure Israel, alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state", but that goal "is under pressure like never before".

'Moment to act'

"With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act. So today — as part of this process toward peace I can confirm the UK will recognize the State of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution," said Starmer.

The Guardian reported some domestic pushback from the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, which criticized the UK government for using the prospect of statehood as a "bargaining chip", and urged that Palestine be recognized immediately.

Malta's Prime Minister Robert Abela said in a Facebook post on Tuesday evening that as a government, it has taken the decision for Malta to recognize the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September as the move reflects Valletta's commitment to "finding a solution that promotes lasting peace in the Middle East".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lambasted Starmer's latest remarks, accusing the British prime minister of "rewarding Hamas' monstrous terrorism and punishing its victims".

"A jihadist state on Israel's border today will threaten Britain tomorrow. Appeasement toward jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen," said Netanyahu, as posted by the Office of the Israeli Prime Minister's X account.

Ereli from Turkiye said Starmer's statement setting conditions for Palestinian statehood if Israel fails to take serious steps regarding the ceasefire demonstrates that this issue "is rhetorically significant and is unlikely to lead to significant changes in practice on the ground, at least at this stage".

"Israel's policies. … could also cause problems in Israeli domestic politics, creating a platform for pressure on Israel to come from both international and domestic politics, which is a positive step for the cessation of Israeli aggressiveness," said Ereli.

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Dina Yulianti Sulaeman, director of the Indonesia Center for Middle East Studies, said that the recognitions "are quite an important symbol".

"Until now, Western countries — especially those with close ties to Israel — have rarely dared to recognize Palestine openly. So when the UK, Malta, and previously France took this step, it showed that the international community, including major powers, was growing increasingly irritated by Israel's actions, especially since the brutal attacks on Gaza," said Sulaeman.

Politically, she said, this increased international pressure on Israel and strengthened Palestine's legal and diplomatic position.

Sulaeman noted that Israel "relies heavily on international legitimacy, especially from Western countries", so this recognition exerts severe pressure on it. But she also asked whether this recognition would "have any impact on the ground, and will it lead Israel to stop its violence in Palestine, especially Gaza".

Contact the writer at jan@chinadailyapac.com