It is encouraging to see that even a U.N. conference full of Arab states is willing to spotlight the fact that nothing can happen so long as Hamas runs ...

Last week, the United Nations High-Level International Conference on the Two-State Solution, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, concluded a three-day conference by issuing the “New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution,” a 42-point peace plan. Israel and the United States both boycotted the conference, which featured demagogic claims of “genocide” by representatives of Iran and Cuba. Other co-signers include Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, and the League of Arab States, as well as the European Union, Britain, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Indonesia, Japan, and Brazil; the declaration reportedly has the backing of the Palestinian Authority. The broader context is a renewed push to pressure Israel with threats of international recognition of a Palestinian state and international acceptance of unsubstantiated claims by Hamas of an Israel-caused famine in territory under the governance of Hamas. French President Emmanuel Macron recently called on “both sides” to release their hostages, as if Israel holds hostages.

As you may imagine, given the parties involved, the New York Declaration is not an even-handed document or one that honestly describes the behavior of the combatants. Then again, accusing Israel of crimes against humanity is just how people at the U.N. say ‘good morning.’ If you actually read carefully, however, there is a fair amount of welcome realism buried here that reflects progress in admitting what is obvious to any fair-minded observer. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot leaned into that description: “For the first time, Arab countries and those in the Middle East condemn Hamas, condemn October 7, call for the disarmament of Hamas, call for its exclusion from Palestinian governance, and clearly express their intention to normalize relations with Israel in the future.” While those aspirations come with conditions that Israel and its supporters are likely to consider unrealistic, the declaration is — within the context of where it starts from — a step in the right direction. Consider some of the highlights:

Of course, not everything forward-looking in the declaration is sensible or attainable. A few examples:

There’s a lot else here about international security architecture and contribution to Palestinian reconstruction that sounds good, but is unlikely to work well in practice, if it’s even attempted. Merely to discuss, at a level beyond slogans, how a two-state solution would work is to reveal the daunting nature of the challenges. But it is encouraging to see that even a U.N. conference full of Arab states is willing to spotlight, however grudgingly, the fact that none of this can even begin to happen so long as Hamas runs Gaza.