Dozens of nations support France’s Mideast peace plan, but not the crucial two
PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron says he will formally recognize a Palestinian state as the U.N. General Assembly convenes this week, part of a broad diplomatic push he has spearheaded in an attempt to salvage a two-state solution with Israel that looks as distant as ever.
The plan, hatched with the Saudis over the past six months, is meant to provide a road map for rebuilding the Gaza Strip and securing peace after the end of the war , which is close to entering its third year. It has gained support from 142 countries.
Since Macron announced in July that he would recognize Palestine, more than a half-dozen countries have followed suit, including Canada and Britain, whose prime minister, Keir Starmer, is expected to make his pronouncement this weekend.
The rest are expected to make their declarations Monday during a summit at the United Nations the day before the General Assembly officially opens.
But even the plan’s staunchest backers in Macron’s inner circle concede that it misses the essential element: Any hint of backing by Israel or the United States.
That has made the effort by Macron seem destined to join more than 75 years of failed diplomacy since the United Nations in 1947 first called for the creation of an Arab state alongside a Jewish state.
“The ingredients required to test the possibility of a two-state solution are simply not there,” said Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Reasons for this include a ground assault by Israeli forces on central Gaza City this past week that has displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians; a recent declaration by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel that “there will be no Palestinian state”; and condemnation from the Trump administration , which has worked behind the scenes to pressure allies not to sign on to the plan.
This past week, while visiting Jerusalem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed any move to recognize a Palestinian state as symbolic and said it would only make Hamas “feel more emboldened.” He warned that a fresh push for Palestinian statehood could provoke an Israeli backlash – a likely reference to recent calls by right-wing Israeli ministers for the annexation of the West Bank in response.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.