Frustrated Europe embraces statehood move

A growing number of European countries have expressed frustration with the status quo and began sidestepping the diplomatic process between Israelis and Palestinians by recognizing Palestinian statehood in the hope of sending a clear message to Israel.

On Tuesday, the French National Assembly has voted 339 to 151 in favor of urging its government to recognize a Palestinian. The Danish government will vote on the issue in early January, while Sweden officially recognized Palestine at the end of October. Symbolic votes also took place in the parliaments of Britain, Ireland, and Spain. A vote by the European Parliament on the recognition of a Palestinian state is expected in mid-December.

These votes are taking place despite the recent terrorist attacks across Jerusalem, in which Israeli civilians have been killed, and continued infighting between Palestinian factions.

“Europeans may have nothing but good intentions, but recognizing Palestine without the PA [Palestinian Authority] first achieving a settlement with Israel is ultimately misguided. It would be a setback for the quest for real peace and the establishment of a real Palestinian state,” Daniel Schwammenthal, director of the American Jewish Committee’s Transatlantic Institute in Brussels, told JNS.org. 

With peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians stalled since last spring, European leaders have increasingly become impatient and “the predominate perception in Europe still blames Israel for the lack of progress for peace, not the Palestinians,” said Dr. Emanuele Ottolenghi, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.  

In early November, the European Union’s new foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini visited Israel, as well as Gaza and the West Bank, declaring a real “urgency” to end the conflict and reiterating that one of the EU’s top foreign policy goals was the establishment of a Palestinian state. 

“We need a Palestinian state — that is the ultimate goal and this is the position of all the European Union,” Mogherini said during her visit to Gaza.