The upcoming two-state solution summit cohosted by France and Saudi Arabia is shaping up to be an "embarrassing" flop, with just around 50 countries expected to send representatives, according to a State Department source.
French president Emmanuel Macron has billed the summit, scheduled to start on Monday, as a major step "toward recognizing Palestine." But insiders say the turnout is weak, with less than a third of the countries that already recognize a Palestinian state expected to show up.
"The conference is embarrassing for them. They’ve got 50-some-odd countries signed up," a State Department official told the Washington Free Beacon. "There's 150 countries that already recognize Palestine."
"You’d figure [they] should be able to get at least 150 plus the ones [they’re] trying to get to recognize," said the source, adding that slated participants include non-democratic nations such as Russia, China, and Cuba.
The level of diplomatic representation among attending nations is also reportedly lacking. While French foreign affairs minister Jean-Noël Barrot is hosting the summit, many of the participating countries will not be sending equivalent counterparts.
"The actual representation, the level of people that are showing up, is also really low. There are very few foreign ministers coming at the level the French are trying to host it," said the official. "Even amongst their peers, the German Foreign Minister is not coming, the U.K. foreign minister is not coming, the Italian foreign minister is not coming."
A poor showing would come as a political blow to Macron, whose approval rating has sunk to 19 percent in recent polling. While the French president isn’t attending the event, the conference and Macron’s surrounding efforts to build support for a two-state solution are seen as his last-ditch attempt to forge a foreign policy legacy in the final two years of his presidency.
The Trump administration, however, isn't on board. The State Department won't be sending any representatives, it announced on Thursday. It also signaled a willingness to withhold visas for Palestinian Authority officials seeking to travel to the United States in the buildup to the summit, a senior State Department official told the Free Beacon. The department first leveled that threat ahead of the summit's original June start date and maintained it as Israel's surprise attack on Iran delayed the summit.
"The U.S. would absolutely consider blocking their visas if they try to even decide to visit the United States," a senior State Department official told the Free Beacon after the summit was first announced last month. "The heads of the PA have openly praised the horrific attack that took place on Oct. 7. They celebrated terrorism and the killing of hundreds of innocent people."
The Trump administration has privately objected to the summit, arguing that recognizing a Palestinian state at this time—and without a negotiated agreement between Israel and a viable Palestinian government—would be perceived as rewarding Hamas for the mass terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7.
The administration's opposition is also fueled by the Palestinian Authority’s continued embrace of the Oct. 7 terror attacks. Just days before the U.N. conference was originally slated to begin, the PA’s official newspaper published an interview with leader Mahmoud Abbas in which he praised Hamas for achieving "important goals" on Oct. 7. With Abbas’s government still fomenting terrorism against Israel, the United States does not see a viable pathway to support statehood.
In June, Reuters reported on a U.S. diplomatic cable which said the State Department "opposes any steps that would unilaterally recognize a conjectural Palestinian state, which adds significant legal and political obstacles to the eventual resolution of the conflict and could coerce Israel during a war, thereby supporting its enemies."
Barrot, the French minister, met with Saudi Arabian foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan on Thursday to discuss the plans for Monday’s event, and "expressed hope that this conference will yield tangible results to improve peace and security in the region," according to a statement.
The conference, which will take place at the U.N. headquarters in New York, is also seen as a preview for a more formal recognition of a Palestinian state that France is organizing at the U.N. in September. On Thursday, Macron announced that France "will recognize the State of Palestine" as part of its "commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East." He said he would make an official announcement at the U.N.
President Donald Trump addressed Macron's announcement while speaking to reporters on Friday morning. "Here’s the good news: What he says doesn’t matter," Trump said. "It’s not going to change anything."