French Parliament Vote in Favor of Recognizing 'Palestine'

France’s Parliament voted to press forward with recognition of the “State of Palestine” Tuesday. French Members of Parliament voted a majority 339 to 151 in favor of recognition, the vote not binding but a major hit to Israeli-French relations.

France’s lower house of Parliament voted to press for French recognition of “Palestine”, discussion amongst French MK’s placed on diplomatic moves for the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority before official recognition.

The government’s official stance is “to recognize the state of Palestine in view of reaching a definitive settlement to the conflict” unlike states such as Sweden which have voted to officially recognize “Palestine” a move which resulted in Israel recalling its ambassador.

France is the third of European state Parliaments voting in majority of recognition following Britain and France. Several EU states have already voted in favor, the European Parliament expected to vote in the next month.

Last month United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon stated on European states voting and recognition and support of Palestinians that “Governments and parliaments are taking action. That momentum will grow,”

The wave of recognition of “Palestine” as a state through out Europe comes at a time the several Palestinian factions within the UN are planning to submit a draft resolution for recognition of Palestine as a state to the UN Security Council, the United States clear it would veto any such bill.

Last week the PLO and Palestinian UN representatives announced the delay of the submission following diplomatic pressure from the United States.

Britain, France and the United States hold veto power on any Security Council resolutions, the decision by Britain and France to vote for recognition of great concern to both Israel and the United States.

Israeli diplomats and Knesset members have warned against Palestinian efforts to gain international support for statehood as they damage unilateral efforts and delay resumption of peace talks.

Photo credit: “Palais Luxembourg Sunset” by Benh LIEU SONG with some parts cloned out by Nicolas SANCHEZ – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Amir Tsarfati, a Jewish Christian, is the founder and president of Behold Israel, a news site to correct the scarcity in trustworthy reportage on issues and events impacting Israel, and to resolve the uncertainty about who or what to believe.