The White House is warning foreign governments not to participate in a conference at the United Nations on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the two-state solution.
President Donald Trump‘s administration is threatening to punish countries that take part in the United Nations conference next week in New York City, which is being co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia.
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“We are urging governments not to participate in the conference, which we view as counterproductive to ongoing, life-saving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages,” a diplomatic cable from the administration said, according to Reuters.
“The United States 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,” the cable continues.
Israel has previously claimed the French government was preparing to announce recognition of a Palestinian state at the event, but French officials have denied that assertion.
The French government is poised to make such a move soon, with President Emmanuel Macron saying a sovereign Palestine is “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity.”
The diplomatic cable allegedly warned foreign governments that “unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state” following the 2023 massacre perpetrated by Hamas would “effectively render Oct. 7 Palestinian Independence Day.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee clarified Tuesday that Trump, who previously expressed openness to a two-state solution for the region, is no longer open to the possibility of a Palestinian state.
“Unless there are some significant things that happen that change the culture, there’s no room for it,” Huckabee said in a Bloomberg interview.
France’s continued criticisms of the Israeli government has caused strife between the two nations.
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The Israeli foreign ministry has accused the French president of a “crusade against the Jewish state,” and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Macron has “chosen to side with a murderous Islamist terrorist organization and echo its despicable propaganda, accusing Israel of blood libels.”
“We remember well what happened to Jews in France when they couldn’t defend themselves,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said last month. “President Macron should not lecture us on morality.”