[[link removed]]

WHAT WOULD RECOGNIZING PALESTINE REALLY MEAN?  
[[link removed]]


 

Dahlia Scheindlin
May 28, 2025
Haaretz
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Everyone wants Palestinian statehood but Israel, and Israel won't
change on its own. Recognition must be a big package of policy, one
with teeth and bricks alike, or it will end up like all the other
failures. _

,

 

Whatever one thinks about the two-state solution for Israelis and
Palestinians, one thing is clear: The parties won't get there
themselves. That's why France and Saudi Arabia are gearing up to try
again, by spearheading a process at the United Nations to draw the
blueprint for getting it done.

At a UN preparatory session last Friday, representatives from both
France and Saudi Arabia promised to put the wheels in motion
[[link removed]]. They spoke of "Real,
irreversible and transformative change." They called to "chart the
course for action, not reflection." The Saudi representative, Manal
Radwan, said: "This conference is not about words but about action."

A special conference of working groups to be held in mid-June at the
UN, Radwan told the General Assembly, will deliver "practical and
time-bound outcomes" via "concrete proposals," and each country must
"be ready to shoulder long-term responsibilities."

That sounds serious, and similar to the French position: "Our aim
remains to mobilize the entire international community so that it
actively commits by supporting a resumption of the peace process. ...
[we must] reaffirm our commitment to the two-State solution ... by
assembling the concrete contributions that all international partners
are prepared to provide."

Except that the latter statement was the French Foreign Ministry's
description [[link removed]] of
a conference for peace – in January 2017. That conference followed
another French-hosted convening in 2016, which followed the outgoing
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's speech in December that year
[[link removed]],
advocating "significant steps that would signal real progress towards
creating two states. That's the bottom line: If we're serious about
the two-state solution, it's time to start implementing it now."

RECOGNITION – THE ACE OR THE RED HERRING?

Perhaps to prove that this time is different, France's Emmanuel
Macron has raised fresh speculation
[[link removed]] –
or the specter, for Israel's right-wing – of formally recognizing
the State of Palestine. Last week, his Foreign Minister Jean-Noel
Barrot said
[[link removed]] Paris
was "determined" to do it. On Monday, Malta announced it
[[link removed]] plans
to do the same. They would be following nearly 150 other countries
that have already recognized Palestine since the PLO declared a state
in 1988. On Wednesday, Indonesia announced a Saudi-style sweetener –
that it would recognize Israel, if Israel recognizes a Palestinian
state.

But the problem is staring us in the face: All those recognitions have
failed to actually add up to a sovereign state of Palestine.

It's not surprising, then, that "there are some debates right now
among Palestinians" about whether recognition is worth it, said Dalal
Iriqat, who teaches conflict resolution at the Arab American
University in Ramallah, in an interview. Her students complain that
such declarations fail to change the difficulty of their lives on the
ground, causing mainly frustration; they say "it's very symbolic, so
we don't need it," she observed.

But Iriqat rejects that position. For her, "recognition is a
pre-requisite for all member states who have supported the two-state
solution. However, it must come with a package: End Israeli
occupation, define borders, hold Israel accountable and end impunity
for war crimes."

EMPTY OR SUBSTANTIVE SYMBOLISM

"Just symbolic" is a common concern among Palestinians. Omar Dajani, a
Palestinian-American law professor and former legal advisor to the
Palestinian negotiating team, told me bluntly "Recognition must be
more than symbolic." He is the Palestinian co-chair of the board of A
Land for All [[link removed]], where I have been an active
member
[[link removed]] for
a dozen years.

Palestinians and Israelis who support a two-state solution have plenty
of ideas for how to turn such a policy into what Dajani calls
"transformative recognition." He outlined a set of basic principles.

The first, which should be obvious, is to anchor recognition
"explicitly" to the Green Line, which demarcated Israel from the
Palestinian territories on the eve of the 1967 war. In the West Bank,
Israel has stretched its occupation so far east of the line as to make
the West Bank unrecognizable. Going back to that line as the starting
point both recognizes the need for a smooth, contiguous Palestinian
state, not "resembling a Bantustan," writes Dajani – and is a de
facto reversal of Israel's de facto annexation.

Iriqat recalled the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International
Court of Justice
[[link removed]] ruling that Israel's
occupation of territories beyond that line as illegal. She didn't say
so, but recognizing Palestine would mean that Israel is violating the
sovereign territory of another state – an even clearer-cut violation
than protracted occupation. Dalal advocated sanctions at the bilateral
level – meaning, individual countries should "walk the talk," for
example by ending arms sales, or sanctioning settlers in general for
the violation of international law, not only against those who commit
violence against Palestinians.

Until last week, such advice would have sounded hypothetical if not
remote. But Britain, Canada and France have now issued warnings of
"concrete actions
[[link removed]]"
and targeted sanctions over the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Britain suspended trade negotiations with Israel. It's a new week, and
Germany's chancellor has issued a stern criticism of the war
[[link removed]],
which his finance minister seconded in statements
[[link removed]] that
sounded very much like a warning. Putting teeth like this behind
recognition of Palestine, too, would go well beyond symbolism.

POSTURING, PUNISHING, OR BUILDING

But Palestinian statehood isn't actually about punishing Israel; it's
about building. To this end, Dajani advocates backing recognition with
a plan for an "international transitional administration for
Palestine," involving multiple countries who can contribute to
managing or building institutions alongside Palestinians,
something I've supported since early in the war
[[link removed]].

Naturally Israel would have to agree, since it controls what goes in
and out of Palestine (other than smuggling). Nor should a two-state
solution be held hostage to settlers; A Land for All
[[link removed]] has
a constructive, non-punishment based proposal offering permanent
residency inside Palestine to help.

A real state, of course, needs to be economically viable, which won't
happen overnight. The war has "erased
[[link removed]]" Gaza's economy
– and wreaked tremendous damage in the West Bank as well
[[link removed]]. Beyond
the $53 billion the World Bank
[[link removed]] estimates
will be needed to reconstruct Gaza, the international community could
take steps to ease Palestine's decades-old dependence on Israel –
and vulnerability to Israel's decisions.

Raja Khalidi, Director General of the Palestine Economic Policy
Research Institute [[link removed]] (MAS),
stressed that economic independence must start from the premise that
"there's no such thing as economic sovereignty, there's sovereignty
– and with it you can get an economy which is more or less
sovereign." He is rightfully suspicious of attempts to advance
Palestinian economic growth _instead_ of independence – a prospect
as fictional as conflict management, since sustainable growth hinges
on Palestinian _independence_, alongside Israeli cooperation.

If the global community truly wants Palestinian independence, Khalidi
said, it "should start thinking about what are the economic attributes
of a sovereign state?"

He gave two examples: allowing Palestine to borrow money either from
official or commercial financial markets, and treating the future
state of Palestine as a "separate customs territory," a status the
World Trade Organization denotes as one of the types of entities
[[link removed]] eligible
for accession, which facilitates its ability to conduct international
trade.

But these are easier said than done – both are subject to the
decisions of governments, financial institutions or private lenders,
for example, who generally prefer precisely what Palestine doesn't
have: actual control over its borders and customs policies, or the
stability and institutional strength that lenders trust.

To that end, said Khalidi, "we know that economic development and
independence can only come through political sovereignty, and
political sovereignty is what remains elusive."

Two Israeli law professors concur on the need for greater Palestinian
control over their economy. In a pre-war 2023 paper
[[link removed]], Arie
Reich and Guy Harpaz noted that the Paris Protocol, the economic
arrangements negotiated during the first stage of the Oslo Accords in
the early 1990s, maintained Palestinian economic dependence on Israel
via control over imports, borders, customs – famously collecting
clearance taxes and sometimes withholding them for political reasons,
regulations on certain imports and various types of control over
exports. This "institutionaliz the unequal trading relations between
the parties."

They recommended doing away with the customs union model in favor of a
free trade agreement, which would provide more "symmetry," and give
Palestinians more control over their trade policies – another way to
advance Palestine's status as a separate customs territory, and thus
its candidacy for joining the World Trade Organization.

Reich, the Deputy Rector of Bar-Ilan University, speaking in his
personal capacity, told me he stands by the recommendations of mid-
2023. He wants Palestinians to take more responsibility for their
economic life; but Reich spoke from an Israeli perspective, hoping to
reduce the blame on Israel for Palestinian economic difficulties.

Reich also recognized that in the current political circumstances,
"considering our terrible situation with Gaza, we need to show an
alternative horizon to those who haven't attacked us, with whom we
have security cooperation ... the Palestinian Authority – that they
get something back," – i.e., reward and incentives to be a peaceful
partner.

Once again, this requires Israel's consent. The FTA model he and
Harpaz proposed "allows them to establish their customs with all other
countries, but it's a little hard because we sit on all the borders."

He suggested that the international community could advance these
ideas, including through incentives to Israel.

This is just a sample of concrete policy ideas, but ultimately any
policy to build Palestinian statehood beyond words will require Israel
to cede control, for Palestinians to truly advance their own
policymaking, accountability, institution-building and economic
policies of a state. Palestinians have plenty of work to do on
governance, leadership and legal institutions. Without a horizon for
sovereignty, who will have the legitimacy – or the motivation – to
bother?

There are no nice ways to say this: Everyone wants Palestinian
statehood but Israel, and Israel won't change on its own. Recognition
must be a big package of policy, one with teeth and bricks alike, or
it will end up like all the other failures.

More articles by Dahlia Sheindlin
[[link removed]]

_Haaretz
[[link removed]]
is an independent daily newspaper with a broadly liberal outlook both
on domestic issues and on international affairs. It has a journalistic
staff of some 330 reporters, writers and editors. The paper is perhaps
best known for its Op-ed page, where its senior columnists - among
them some of Israel's leading commentators and analysts - reflect on
current events. Haaretz plays an important role in the shaping of
public opinion and is read with care in government and decision-making
circles. Get a digital subscription [[link removed]]
to Haaretz._

* Israel
[[link removed]]
* Palestine
[[link removed]]
* Two-state Solution
[[link removed]]
* Palestinian State
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]
Manage subscription
[[link removed]]
Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]