France ready to recognize Palestinian state

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that France will no longer refrain from recognising a Palestinian state.

Macron made the announcement Friday at a meeting in Paris with Jordan’s King Abdullah.

“Recognizing a Palestinian state is not a ‘taboo’ for France, as international frustration grows with Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories”, he said.

“We owe it to Palestinians, whose aspirations have been trampled on for too long. We owe it to Israelis, who lived through the worst antisemitic massacre of our time. We owe it to a region that is seeking to rise above those who promote chaos and seed revenge’’, he said.

Macron did not elaborate on when and under what conditions France could recognize a Palestinian state, and France is unlikely to take such a decision unilaterally. But France holds important diplomatic weight, as one of just five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

Without actual talks, a unilateral French recognition would not significantly alter the ground situation, but it would have diplomatic and symbolic significance.