To recognise or not to recognise, that is the most topical question of the day. But what does recognising a Palestinian state at this time mean, and what message does it send?
There is little doubt that eventually there will be a Palestinian State in some part of Judea and Samaria, also known as The West Bank. The real question is when and what form will it take?
According to the Montevideo Convention of 1933, the legal criteria for Statehood are a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and a capacity to enter relations with other states. Recognising a State of Palestine in 2025 elicits more questions than it does answers, for example, who will be the government and what is the defined territory? These are fundamental issues that must be resolved before recognition, and agreed upon by both Israel and the Palestinians.
Most discussions on defined territory are based on what is called the pre-1967 armistice lines, often called ‘The Green Line’, following the Six-Day War. This would require Israel to agree to indefensible borders. Tel Aviv, for instance, would be just 15 km from the West Bank. That’s the same distance as Rosedale on the North Shore to Auckland CBD. Israel cannot be expected to agree to this, and yet it would seem that the Palestinian Authority will agree to nothing less.
Border issues have been addressed before, but the Palestinian leadership has consistently rejected all proposals. The Arab nations said no in 1947, and again in 1967. In 2000, Israel offered the Palestinians 88% of Judea and Samaria for a Palestinian State, including part of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Palestinian leadership under Yasser Arafat not only said no once again, but it instigated the second intifada which included suicide bombers blowing up buses, bus stops, cafes, and a variety of other places always targeting innocent civilians such as the 21 young people murdered whilst queueing for a night club in Tel Aviv in 2001.
In 2008 Israel offered another opportunity for Palestinian Statehood and a two state solution, this time offering 94% of Judea and Samaria with land swaps, East Jerusalem and some form of transport link between The Palestinian State in the Judea and Samaria and in Gaza. Again, the Palestinians said no.
Beyond these offers of peace and the creation of a Palestinian State, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005 evacuating over 9,000 Israel civilians and handed control to the Palestinians. In 2007, a bloody coup against the Palestinian Authority by Hamas resulted in them taking over control. No elections have been held since. It had a de facto state, so why did it not declare a Palestinian State then?
What has transpired is a terrorist organisation more committed to the total destruction of Israel than it is to the wellbeing of its people. Whilst Israel built defence systems and bomb shelters to protect its citizens, Hamas built a complex underground tunnel system larger than the London Underground in a place the fraction of its size not to protect its people, but to shield its fighters and hold Israeli hostages.
Hamas’s desire to eradicate Israel culminated on 7 October 2023 when it infiltrated Israel killing over 1,200 and kidnapping 251 people back to Gaza. Unlike the Nazi’s who tried to hide their crimes against the Jews, Hamas proudly broadcast theirs. They are still viewable online. This was a calculated attack on a sovereign state. The only reason the death toll stopped at 1,200 was because the IDF were able to push back Hamas into Gaza. Yet 50 hostages – twenty of whom are still believed to be alive and intentionally being starved – still remain there almost 2 years later.
Israelis have seen peace offers rejected and met with violence few nations have endured. Their suspicion of peace overtures is not unfounded.
Hamas not only committed the biggest atrocity to befall the Jewish people since the Holocaust and the largest number of Israelis gruesomely murdered in a single day, but they have promised to repeat it again. Unilaterally recognising a Palestinian State, despite the awful conditions currently facing the people of Gaza – not least due to Hamas insistence not to release the remaining hostages and surrender and stealing food meant for Gazans – is a reward for terrorism and will be noted not just by Hamas, but by terrorist groups worldwide.
To recognise a Palestinian state today would signal that aggression, mass murder, and hostage-taking are pathways to legitimacy. Is that the legacy New Zealand wants?
- Rob Berg
