The logic behind recognizing Palestine
Since Hamas's terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, these three threats have ceased to be part of a dystopian scenario. The first threat is nearing completion before our eyes, despite the shameful media blackout imposed by Israel. The second threat is advancing inexorably, fueled by extremist settlers supported by an ultranationalist government where the right and far right are becoming indistinguishable. That same government is also actively working to normalize the third threat. Decades of Israeli fait accomplis demand that we take this seriously.
This necessary reminder of the brutal reality is essential to understanding Macron's decision. France can no longer adhere to its previous position that recognition would come at the end of a territorial compromise negotiated by both sides. The door to such a prospect has long since closed, and responsibility is broadly shared.
What is now at stake makes it impossible to accept inaction or further delay. The fact that some of France's allies are content with this resignation does not make it virtuous. It may already be too late to save the two-state solution. Waiting and doing nothing only ensures that, eventually, there will be nothing left to recognize – definitively.
Even without the slightest guarantee of success, trying to halt this downward spiral is an argument in favor of recognizing Palestine. Staying true to the values France has proclaimed to uphold, including supporting the Palestinians' right to self-determination in land seized by Israel in 1967, also leads to this decision.
The two-state solution would guarantee an irreversible defeat for Hamas by further strengthening the legitimacy of Israel following the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) recognition of Israel in 1988 and 1993. The solution also safeguards against a shift that, if unchecked, will cause Israel to abandon its democratic nature and impose an apartheid regime on Palestinians confined to enclaves.
Turning away from these values because upholding them is risky is, in fact, an endorsement of resignation – a point that makes such criticism all the more peculiar when it comes from people who often invoke Gaullism (a French doctrine of national independence and moral leadership inherited from former president Charles de Gaulle). Either Palestine represents an injustice and must be opposed, or Palestine is the only solution to save the Palestinians and to protect Israelis from themselves. In that case, it must be recognized.
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