Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on the fourth day of the 80th session of the General Debate in the U.N. General Assembly Hall in New York on Friday. Many seats were empty because delegations walked out before he spoke. Photo by Peter Foley/UPI | License Photo
The growing international recognition of a Palestinian state, galvanized by Israel’s horrific and widely described “genocidal” war in Gaza, has been seen as a long-overdue affirmation of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and of their very existence.
However, this fresh wave of support will remain ineffective and without real impact unless the international community takes concrete action, including imposing real sanctions on Israel to stop the war in Gaza, end West Bank annexation plans and accept a genuine two-state solution, according to Palestinian and Arab political analysts.
At the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week, additional countries — including France and Belgium — joined Canada, Australia, Portugal and the United Kingdom in recognizing Palestine, bringing the total to 156, or nearly 81% of the U.N.’s 193 member states. More countries are expected to follow suit soon.
The long-awaited recognitions were seen as an important and meaningful turning point in the 77-year-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although they appear symbolic.
“They came a bit late actually, but are important because they affirm the right of self-determination for the Palestinian people and negate all the Israeli measures on the ground that aim at the destruction of any possibility of a Palestinian state,” said Mustafa Barghouti, the leader and a founder of the Palestinian National Initiative in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Barghouti said that they also negate Israeli laws, such as the state nation law that says that “the right of self-determination in historic Palestine is exclusive for the Jewish people,” and the Israeli Knesset decision to prevent a Palestinian state.
“They represent an opposite direct blow to [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s continued policies and declaration that there will not be a Palestinian state,” Barghouti told UPI in a telephone interview.
Netanyahu, who has repeatedly threatened to annex the West Bank, defiantly reiterated earlier this week that there will be no Palestinian state, declaring that “it will not happen” and accusing the countries that recognized one of “rewarding terror with an enormous prize.”
His brutal campaign in Gaza — where 65,382 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed —has triggered global outrage, culminating in a report by the U.N.’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry that accused Israel of committing genocide in the devastated Strip and called for an end to the campaign and accountability for those responsible.
Israel has continued to reject these accusations, both from the U.N. and a growing number of humanitarian and legal observers. But the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, and the daily broadcasts of its residents’ suffering, were becoming impossible to contest or ignore.
Western public opinion, which initially sided with Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, began to shift as graphic footage from Gaza — showing mass civilian casualties, bombed hospitals, destroyed schools and homes, repeated displacements and starving children — was broadcast in real time across global media.
“This genocide, with the killing of tens of thousands of women, children and civilians, cannot be tolerated or covered up,” said Rami Rayess, the director of the Institute for Palestine Studies in Beirut, Lebanon.
“It thus triggered a wave of recognition of the State of Palestine, further isolating Israel on the international stage.”
Netanyahu admitted during a Finance Ministry conference this month that Israel is facing a “kind of isolation” that could last for years, saying the country has no choice but to stand on its own by becoming more self-sufficient and less reliant on external trade.
Massive street protests, general strikes and student-led movements around the world have surged in solidarity with Gaza -pressuring governments and universities to sever ties with Israel, halt arms exports, and take concrete action toward justice and accountability for alleged war crimes.
Calls to boycott Israeli goods, institutions, artists and athletes have mounted, aiming to pressure Israel to comply with international law and respect Palestinian rights.
“Such movements and popular pressure, whether driven by support for the just Palestinian cause or humanitarian concerns, have helped return the Palestinian issue to the forefront of the international agenda, proving that it is a cause that will not fade or be resolved easily without a comprehensive and lasting solution,” Majdi al-Malki, a sociology professor at Birzeit University in Ramallah, told UPI in a telephone interview.
Although the recent wave of recognition of Palestine has revived discussions around the two-state solution, it remains insufficient to alter the current reality or bring about meaningful change on the ground.
“To make these recognitions valuable, meaningful and effective, real sanctions on Israel are needed, first and foremost to stop the ongoing genocidal war in Gaza, the settlers’ terror in the West Bank and the Israeli measures aimed at altering the reality on the ground,” Barghouti said.
“Without sanctions, the recognitions will not change anything,” he said.
He explained that these measures should include a total military embargo, the boycott of economic cooperation and trade agreements, including freezing the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and divestment from Israel.
Such actions are already underway. Spain canceled an $818 million arms deal with Israel, Danish and Norwegian investment funds have withdrawn their investments in Israel and Slovenia became the first country to declare Netanyahu persona non grata and impose a travel ban.
“Israel is already suffering from the divestment of the Norwegian investment fund and now the Danish investment fund. Divestment is also very important,” Barghouti said, also noting that more than 32% to 33% of Israel’s trade is with Europe.
“Academic and arts sanctions, kicking Israel out of FIFA and other sports activities … all of that can make a serious difference,” he added.
But is the two-state solution still possible?
It is becoming increasingly difficult due to Israel’s continued occupation of the West Bank, expansion of Jewish settlements and apparent lack of will for peace, according to Rami Rayess.
“Today, there are over 800,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, where demographic changes have been systematically imposed,” he said. “Israel should be deterred by the international community to end the Gaza war, stop its expansionist plan in the West Bank and be pushed to accept even the minimum of the two-state solution.”
Without removing Israeli illegal settlements from all parts of the occupied Palestinian territories and the preservation of Gaza, there can be no independent Palestinian state or viable two-state solution.
To al-Malki, who is also the director of the Ramallah office of the Institute for Palestine Studies, this could change with the demographic factor still favoring the 3.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank if there is political will and sufficient pressure exerted on Israel.
“Settlements could be dismantled or relocated to facilitate the implementation of the two-state solution,” he said.
The biggest problem remains Israel’s plans to forcibly expel Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. That could be stopped if sufficient sanctions are imposed by Israel, according to Barghouti.
If Arab and Muslim countries — which haven’t declared sanctions yet — decide together to boycott Israel, sending a message to President Donald Trump that his government’s and his country’s interests are tied to what Israel is doing in Gaza and the West Bank, he said, “then we will see a serious change.”
