CIJR | Canadian Institute for Jewish Research
L'institut Canadien de Recherches sur le Judaisme

Analysis

When Recognition Becomes Evasion: Europe’s Palestinian Statehood Campaign

Solidarity with the Palestinians versus the pro-Zionist Brits… | Flickr
Solidarity with the Palestinians versus the pro-Zionist Brits… | Flickr

Aviram Bellaishe

Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA), Apr. 29, 2025

“The Western attempt to differentiate between the “jihadist terrorist” and the PLO-type “nationalist fighter” reflects a fundamental failure to understand the conflict.”

Here is France’s position, it is clear: Yes, to peace. Yes, to Israel’s security. Yes, to a Palestinian state without Hamas.

– French President Emmanuel Macron, April 2025

This terse tweet masks a policy – or more broadly, a growing problem in Europe itself. The countries currently leading the move to recognize a Palestinian state – France, Spain, Ireland, Norway – are not doing so in a rational political process, but due to domestic political pressure: tumultuous demonstrations, a public arena dominated by Muslim voices, and militant campuses.

Unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state has become an act of domestic appeasement – and just for that reason, it constitutes a dangerous strategic misstep.

It is born out of reactivity, not responsibility. It is motivated by the need to appear moral, but ignores the destructive consequences – for Israel’s security, regional stability, and for the future of the Palestinians themselves.

Europe: “Localization” of the Palestinian State

France: Politics Under a Threat

In France, where about 6.8 million Muslims live (about 10 percent of the population), the Israeli–Palestinian conflict has become a major domestic issue. After Hamas’s October 2023 attack, Macron at first expressed support for Israel – but very quickly shifted gears. The declaration of support for a Palestinian state, in the midst of the fighting, was aimed no less at domestic than external ears. …SOURCE

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