Should France, after Spain, Ireland and Norway, recognize the State of Palestine? “In my opinion, yes,” Bernard Guetta answered without hesitation on Sud Radio. Number 2 on the Macronist list for the European elections, led by Valérie Heyer in the June 9 vote, spoke this Monday for France to recognize “the existence of a Palestinian state” in order to “force Israeli and Palestinian leaders to “resume negotiations.”
For him, this is “a factor in accelerating the resumption of negotiations,” he said. On Wednesday, May 22, the head of diplomacy said that recognition of the State of Palestine “is not taboo,” but the time has not yet come for France.
“It’s about being a peacemaker.”
“The point is not to be pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel, but to be pro-peace, to force the leaders of these two peoples to come to the negotiating table,” added Bernard Guetta. For the latter, the goal should be “to achieve two-state coexistence” and “we can help this process by declaring that we recognize in advance, even before the borders are defined, that we recognize in principle the existence of a Palestinian state.” .
The former journalist is not the first to defend this position in the presidential camp. At the beginning of April, former Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian already considered it necessary to “take actions of this type to move forward in Israel.”
For now, Paris believes that “the conditions have not been created for this decision to have a real impact” on the process aimed at a two-state solution, the head of French diplomacy told AFP. “This decision should be useful, that is, it should allow a decisive step forward at the political level,” emphasized Stéphane Séjournet in a written statement. “From this point of view, it must intervene at the right time, so that there is a before and an after,” he added.
‘Important step’ for Hamas
Last week, Spain, Ireland and Norway announced their coordinated decision to recognize the state of Palestine in the hope of pulling other countries along with them. Israel immediately responded by announcing the recall of its ambassadors to Ireland and Norway “for consultations.”
Hamas, on the other hand, welcomed “an important step” towards reaffirming “the right to the land and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.” Recognition by Norway, Spain and Ireland is due to take effect on 28 May.
Source: Le Parisien
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