French President Emmanuel Macron plans to unite several countries around the idea of recognizing Palestine as a state at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in order to demonstrate a global counterbalance to Israel and the United States, Politico reported, citing its sources.
According to them, Australia, Andorra, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Canada, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and France will announce their recognition of Palestine at the UN meeting. This would be a “diplomatic victory“ for Paris in its efforts to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the military operation in the Gaza Strip.
Macron's attempt to present a “united front“ against the Jewish state and its backer, US President Donald Trump, however, demonstrates the EU's disunity, the newspaper believes. Germany and Italy currently refuse to recognize Palestinian statehood, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who supports the French president's idea, is likely to withdraw from the meeting.
Macron announced that on September 22 he would hold a conference at the UN on the recognition of Palestine, regardless of the fighting in Gaza and other steps by the Israeli authorities. On July 24, he said that France intended to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly. The Elysee Palace specified that nine other countries would follow France's example during this event.