MILAN, Italy — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday that recognizing a Palestinian state before it is established could be counterproductive.
“I am very much in favor of the State of Palestine, but I am not in favor of recognizing it prior to establishing it,” Meloni told Italian daily La Repubblica.
“If something that doesn’t exist is recognized on paper, the problem could appear to be solved when it isn’t,” Meloni added.
France’s announced decision to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September drew condemnation from Israel and the United States, amid the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Israel’s warnings to France have ranged from scaling back intelligence sharing to complicating Paris’ regional initiatives — with several ministers urging the annexation of the West Bank.
France, home to Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities, will become the first major Western country to recognize a Palestinian state, potentially giving greater momentum to a movement so far dominated by smaller nations that are generally more critical of Israel.
On Friday, Italian Foreign Minister Antoni Tajani said recognition of a Palestinian state must occur simultaneously with recognition of Israel by the new Palestinian entity.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Friday that recognizing Palestinian statehood should be part of a wider plan for lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis.
Starmer said in a video statement that he was working with allies of the UK to advance a “pathway to peace” in the region and that recognizing a Palestinian state is part of that process. “But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis. This is the way to ensure it is a tool of maximum utility to improve the lives of those who are suffering – which of course, will always be our ultimate goal,” the British premier added.
A German government spokesperson also said on Friday that Berlin was not planning to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term, adding that its priority now is to make “long-overdue progress” toward a two-state solution.
Some opponents of countries unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state maintain that the move is merely symbolic when done without cooperation with Israel, adding that a Palestinian state can only be the result of negotiations between both sides of the conflict. But supporters of the move say the current Israeli government is uninterested in such talks or in a two-state solution and that the framework can therefore only be advanced through diplomatic pressure.
At least 142 countries now recognize or plan to recognize Palestinian statehood, according to an AFP tally. Several countries have announced plans to recognize statehood for the Palestinians since the outbreak of the Gaza war, which was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.
Norway, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia all announced recognition following the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, along with several other non-European countries.
The October 7 massacre saw Hamas-led terrorists kill some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnap 251. Of the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, the IDF has confirmed the deaths of 28.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 58,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 456.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.