NEW YORK – France officially recognized a sovereign Palestinian state at the United Nations, with President Emmanuel Macron delivering the news at the 80th U.N. General Assembly on Monday in New York, declaring it part of a broader two-state solution.
“I declare that today France recognizes the State of Palestine,” Macron told the chamber to a standing ovation from representatives of the territories’ biggest supporters.
“The recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people takes nothing away from the rights of the people of Israel, who France supported from Day One and to the respect of which it is staunchly committed,” he told the crowd.
The diplomatic move has been downplayed as symbolic by the United States, with a White House official telling the Washington Examiner that Trump administration personnel were also concerned about the repercussions that recognition would have on the stalled negotiations to release remaining hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks.
“As the president stated, he would be rewarding Hamas and would be hindering efforts to bring home the hostages if he recognizes a Palestinian state, and he doesn’t think they should be rewarded, so he is not going to do that,” the source said.
To that end, when asked about the momentum behind the Palestinian state, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday that President Donald Trump has been “very clear he disagrees with this decision.”
“He feels this does not do anything to release the hostages, which is the primary goal right now in Gaza, does nothing to end this conflict and bring this war to a close,” she said. “Frankly, he believes it’s a reward to Hamas. So he believes these decisions are just more talk and not enough action from some of our friends and allies.”
Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon dismissed the “so-called” conference as “theatre” as he arrived at the General Assembly on Monday, contending that “we all know that it is detached from reality” as he distanced Israel from a two-state solution with Palestinians.
“We know this conference, it came to life because of domestic interests, it is not diplomacy,” Danon told reporters. “Who is going to actually make sure that Hamas is not part of Gaza? The responsibility is on our shoulders. Israel is committed to continue this war until we bring back all the hostages and until Hamas is out of the game completely.”
The French leader asserted in his speech that his nation felt compelled to act due to the expanded military operations in the Gaza Strip and the growing possibility of “expulsion of the people of Gaza to Egypt” and “the annexation of the West Bank.”
“Nothing, nothing justifies the ongoing war in Gaza. Nothing. On the contrary, everything compels us to definitively end it since we didn’t do it earlier,” he said.
Macron simultaneously attempted to characterize Palestinian sovereignty as a “defeat for Hamas” and “for all those who foment anti-Semitism, nurture anti-Zionist obsessions, and who want the destruction of the state of Israel.”
“The cruelty of Hamas and all those who collaborated in this massacre dumbfounded Israel and astounded the world. The 7th of October remains an open wound for the Israeli soul and for our universal conscience,” he explained.
”We condemn it unequivocally, because nothing, never, nowhere, can justify having recourse to terrorism. Minds go out and hearts go out to the victims and their families. We’ve expressed our compassion to all Israelis and first and foremost, demand for all hostages still held by Hamas to be freed unconditionally.“
Macron stated that he hopes the recognition of Palestine and unqualified support for Israelis’ right to existence will create the atmosphere necessary for a two-state solution.
“We must recognize that Palestinians and Israelis are living in twin solitude — the solitude of the Israelis following the historic nightmare of October 2023, and the solitude of Palestinians […] at their wits end in the face of the ceaseless war.”
Macron claimed that the United Nations has betrayed the Palestinian cause by not fulfilling its goal of dividing the former British Mandatory Palestine into two countries along ethnic lines.
“In 1947, this assembly decided on the splitting of a mandatory Palestine across two states, a Jewish state and an Arab state, thus recognizing the right of each of them to self determination,” the French leader said. “The international community granted [recognition] to the state of Israel — at last fulfilling the destiny of this people after millennia of roaming and persecution and Israel founded a beautiful democracy there. The promise of an Arab state, to date, to remains unfulfilled.”
Independent recognition of Palestinian statehood is separate from the discussions about a Palestinian state becoming a member of the U.N. Palestinian officials have what is called permanent observer status.
U.N. membership recommendations can only emanate from the body’s Security Council, and the U.S. would almost certainly use its veto power to stop a measure advancing to a vote by the General Assembly, according to American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Brett Schaefer.
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“The other member states are fully aware of the U.S. position,” Schaefer told the Washington Examiner. “The only reason to [propose Palestinian membership] is to force the United States to veto, but the United States is perfectly comfortable doing that, as demonstrated last week when they vetoed the resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.”
France launched the current wave of support for Palestinian sovereignty when Macron announced in July that his government would “recognize the State of Palestine” as part of the nation’s “historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”
The French leader’s decision instigated a wave of copycat announcements from European countries in the following weeks.
The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Portugal, all four of which committed to Palestinian sovereignty after France, beat Macron to the punch when they formalized the recognition on Sunday, the day before the U.N. General Assembly began.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said over the weekend that the gesture was made in hopes that it would “revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis.”
Paulo Rangel, the Portuguese minister of state and foreign affairs, called the two-state solution framework “the only path to a just and lasting peace.”
The terrorist group Hamas, which launched the Oct. 7 attacks that sparked the conflict, celebrated the four nations’ declaration as a victory for the cause.
“These developments represent a victory for Palestinian rights and the justice of our cause, and send a clear message: no matter how far the occupation goes in its crimes, it will never be able to erase our national rights,” said Mahmud Mardawi, a senior Hamas official.
He added that while the recognition is appreciated, “practical measures” are required to end the “genocidal war being waged against our people in the Gaza Strip and confronting the ongoing annexation and judaisation projects in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”
Israel and the U.S. have firmly opposed the various nations backing Palestinian sovereignty, claiming that the move would only legitimize and encourage future terrorist attacks.
“I have a clear message to those leaders who recognize a Palestinian state after the terrible massacre on Oct. 7, 2023: You are giving a huge reward to terrorism,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a Sunday press conference.
“The minute, the day, that the French announced the thing they did, that day, Hamas walked away from the negotiating table,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this month. “They immediately increased their demands and walked away and stopped negotiating.”
Macron dismissed these accusations in an interview with CBS in Paris, saying Hamas is not interested in a two-state solution and therefore recognition of both Palestine and Israel ultimately undermines the terrorists’ agenda.
“The objective of Hamas is to destroy Israel, to convince the maximum number of people that they have no chance to have peace and stability, and precisely a Palestinian state, and to kill the maximum number of Israeli people,” Macron said.
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“And this is why, if we want to stop this war, if we want to isolate Hamas, the recognition process and the peace plan, which goes with this recognition process, is a precondition,” Macron continued.
Trump is expected in New York City on Monday night before addressing the General Assembly on Tuesday morning. In his speech, he is anticipated to “lay out his vision for a safe, prosperous, peaceful America and world.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, our country is strong again, which has made the entire globe more stable,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told the Washington Examiner, citing that Trump has “brokered seven peace deals, secured historic trade deals and investments, and strengthened alliances across the world.”
A White House official told the Washington Examiner that Trump would specifically use his address to the U.N., his first in-person appearance at the summit since 2019, with the COVID-19 pandemic upending the 2020 edition, to talk about issues of “peace, sovereignty, liberty,” ensure the organization delivers on its “core mandates,” and to promote “transparency, accountability, and burden sharing.”
Leavitt told reporters Monday that the president would “deliver a major speech touting the renewal of American strength around the world [and] his historic accomplishments in just eight months, including the ending of seven global wars and conflicts.”
“The president will also touch upon how globalist institutions have significantly decayed the world order, and he will articulate his straightforward and constructive vision for the world,” Leavitt said. “The president will also be hosting bilateral meetings with the U.N.’s secretary general. The president will also, later in the day, hold a multilateral meeting with Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the [United Arab Emirates], and Jordan. After these important meetings, the president will attend a reception tomorrow night with more than 100 world leaders before returning to Washington, D.C.”
During a press conference with Starmer last week, Trump’s opposition to Palestinian recognition was highlighted when he pointed out that he has “a few disagreements with the prime minister” on the issue.
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“We have to have the hostages back immediately,” Trump said. “That’s what the people of Israel want. And we want the fighting to stop, and it’s going to stop.”
Starmer attempted to smooth over the disagreement, affirming that the two leaders “absolutely agree on the need for peace and a road map […] because the situation in Gaza is intolerable.”