Julie Norman, an associate professor of Middle Eastern politics at University College London, says the recognition of Palestine as a state is unlikely to change things on the ground.

Jerusalem

Israel and Iran have agreed a ceasefire after a twelve day conflict. Meanwhile, Israel strikes in Gaza continue with the humanitarian crisis deepening.

Middle East Conflict

A Middle East expert has commented that the recognition of a Palestinian state by Western countries, such as Canada, France, and the UK, is unlikely to result in significant changes on the ground. While these nations plan to support Palestinian recognition at the United Nations, Palestine would still lack full UN membership due to opposition from the United States, a permanent Security Council member.

The expert notes that these moves are largely symbolic but signal increased diplomatic pressure on Israel and highlight the United States' isolation on the issue. Bilateral steps, such as upgrading the Palestinian mission to an embassy, are possible, but the overall impact remains limited. Israel's government continues to reject a two-state solution on nationalistic and security grounds.

Expert: Recognition of Palestinian state won't change things

As Canada becomes the latest Western nation to say it will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September, a Middle East expert says this is unlikely to change things on the ground. The announcement by some of Israel's closest allies does, however, reflect growing international outrage over the situation in Gaza. There's a couple of different ways to recognize a state. This probably will come from France and the U.K. in this U.N. vote. But again, France and the U.K. know that that does not mean Palestine will become a full state under the United Nations. They're currently what's considered an observer state, but they don't have full membership as a voting member. To get that, you would need all of the Security Council members to agree to that, and the United States has, you know, very consistently indicated they would not support that. But what this would do is put the U.S. in the position to be the only state of the five members of the Security Council to still oppose this move. And it really does highlight how, you know, just isolated the U.S. is in that decision in comparison to the rest of the world, quite frankly. She says the move is part of a push by countries against Israel and could increase diplomatic pressure for an end to the conflict. At the same time, states can make bilateral moves also to recognize another state. That can be, you know, increasing the status of the current Palestinian mission in London to an embassy, potentially having some sort of ambassador role here in Palestine. No one is exactly sure what these steps would look like right now. Again, still pretty symbolic at the end of the day when we're talking about the bigger issues here, but these kinds of indications and recognition that you're dealing with a state partner rather than with kind of this unknown sort of entity that has been the Palestinian authority for the last several decades. Israel's current government rejects a two-state solution on nationalistic and security grounds.

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New York

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Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

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Ottawa

Global Tariffs

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Expert: Recognition of Palestinian state won't change things

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