Is recognising Palestine a way to ‘save face’ for Western leaders?

Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia person recognised Palestinian statehood, a symbolic effect to Israel’s ongoing warfare connected Gaza and territorial enlargement successful the occupied West Bank.

More states, including France and Portugal, are expected to recognise Palestine successful the coming days aft the announcements connected Sunday.

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Israel has responded successful caller days by doubling down.

Shortly earlier the announcement, Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesperson for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the PM had called the enactment “absurd and simply a reward for terrorism”.

At an lawsuit successful occupied East Jerusalem connected September 15, Netanyahu promised his supporters that determination “will beryllium nary Palestinian state”.

While this enactment by the 3 states – Canada, the UK and Australia – grabbed the world’s attraction and galore headlines, analysts archer Al Jazeera that it is simply a small, symbolic measurement successful the ongoing indignity, execution and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, albeit it 1 with immoderate weight.

“Recognition matters successful this lawsuit due to the fact that adjacent US allies person truthful acold reserved it until the time aft a negotiated agreement,” Rida Abu Rass, a Palestinian governmental scientist, told Al Jazeera.

“It matters due to the fact that these countries broke ranks. In presumption of its impact, Israel finds itself further isolated, and I deliberation that’s meaningful.”

On the aforesaid time arsenic designation was announced, astatine slightest 55 Palestinians were killed successful Israeli attacks connected Gaza connected Sunday. At slightest 37 of them were killed successful Gaza City, wherever the Israeli service has unleashed another brutal campaign of violence.

Performative recognition?

Analysts person expressed scepticism that designation mightiness amended the worldly conditions of Palestinians presently suffering nether Israeli aggression.

Israel has killed astatine slightest 65,283 radical and wounded 166,575 successful its warfare connected Gaza since October 2023; figures that are thought by galore experts to beryllium overmuch higher. During the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks connected Israel, 1,139 radical died, and different 200 oregon truthful were taken captive.

Meanwhile, successful the occupied West Bank, the Israeli subject and convulsive settler attacks person killed much than 1,000 people, arsenic the Israeli authorities threatens to wholly annex the full territory.

European solidarity with Palestine has boomed among constituents, analysts say. Here, protesters march successful Vienna connected September 20, 2025 [AFP]

Israel’s war, which some Israeli and international experts and human rights groups telephone a genocide, is not expected to subside aft Sunday’s actions, analysts said.

“As agelong arsenic it doesn’t travel with factual actions, specified arsenic sanctions, arms embargo, and the implementation of a no-fly portion successful occupied Palestine with a conjugation of forces from the planetary assemblage to alleviate the suffering of the people, I stay pessimistic,” Chris Osieck, a freelance researcher who has contributed to investigations from Forensic Architecture and Bellingcat connected Palestine and Israel, told Al Jazeera.

Mohamad Elmasry, a prof astatine the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that the determination is chiefly performative.

“I deliberation they’re nether expanding unit from the planetary assemblage and besides from their section populations to bash something,” helium said.

“This is, I think, their mode of doing thing oregon saying that they did thing without really taking substantive action.”

Pressure is expanding connected European countries and the UK to instrumentality action, including imaginable sanctions [Burak Bir/Anadolu via Getty Images]

Still, designation does mean that the 3 countries tin present participate into treaties with the Palestinian authorities and tin sanction afloat ambassadors.

For its part, the UK volition recognise Husam Zomlot arsenic the Palestinian ambassador to the UK.

Zomlot said successful a connection that the “long-overdue designation marks an extremity to Britain’s denial of the Palestinian people’s inalienable close to self-determination, state and independency successful our homeland”.

“It marks an irreversible measurement towards justice, bid and the correction of historical wrongs, including Britain’s assemblage legacy, the Balfour Declaration and its relation successful the dispossession of the Palestinian people,” helium said.

Joining planetary organisations

Much of the satellite already recognises the State of Palestine.

The caller additions mean that lone the United States, a fistful of European and Baltic states, South Korea, Japan, and a fewer different states bash not recognise Palestine.

However, adjacent with astir of the satellite connected committee with Palestinian statehood, the state is inactive not a afloat subordinate authorities of the United Nations.

“[Recognition] brings nary caller UN privileges, nor does it alteration Palestine to go a subordinate of caller intergovernmental institutions – not without US support,” Abu Rass said.

“Palestine is presently a ‘non-member perceiver state’,” helium explained. “To go a afloat subordinate would necessitate the proposal of the UN Security Council [followed by UN General Assembly vote] – unlikely, to accidental the least, fixed US veto powers.”

Still, it could beryllium a archetypal step.

International unit has intensified connected Israel to extremity its warfare connected Gaza, peculiarly from Europe. Boycott campaigns are gaining momentum that could spot Israel expelled from Eurovision and information successful international sporting competitions.

And the European Union has precocious discussed expanding tariffs connected immoderate Israeli goods and applying sanctions to immoderate Israeli leaders.

“Recognition has nary nonstop interaction connected Israel’s actions successful Gaza, but it whitethorn awesome these countries’ willingness to instrumentality existent measures, which would person a nonstop interaction connected Israel’s actions successful Gaza, specified arsenic two-way arms embargos – meaning, neither selling weapons to Israel, nor buying weapons from Israeli manufacturers,” Abu Rass said.

Leaders ‘saving face’

Analysts told Al Jazeera they judge immoderate Western states, contempt discussing Palestinian designation for months, are taking the measurement arsenic a punishment for Israel’s aggression connected Gaza and the occupied West Bank. This is bolstered by conditional enactment for statehood expressed by immoderate states.

They accidental that these leaders are responding to myriad home pressures successful their ain countries, including unit from pro-Israel groups with ties to constitution parties, astatine the aforesaid clip that a increasing chorus of constituents is calling for authorities enactment and penalties to halt genocide.

“This is happening present due to the fact that of increasing home pressures connected these centre-left governments,” Abu Rass said.

“Nothing changed, per se [but] what we’re seeing is simply a slow, cumulative absorption to a debased simmer – a increasing wide disaffection – and these steps should beryllium seen arsenic a low-cost mode to fulfill constituents’ demands.”

“They’re redeeming face,” Abu Rass added.

In July, the UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said helium would recognise Palestine unless Israel took “substantive steps” to extremity its warfare connected Gaza.

On Sunday, Starmer reiterated that designation comes arsenic a effect to the governmental realities successful Israel and Palestine today.

“This is intended to further that cause,” Starmer said connected Sunday. “It’s done present due to the fact that I’m peculiarly acrophobic that the thought of a two-state solution is reducing and feels further distant contiguous than it has for galore years.”

Australia besides made its designation conditional, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying: “Further steps, including the constitution of diplomatic relations and the opening of embassies, volition beryllium considered arsenic the Palestinian Authority makes further advancement connected commitments to reform.”

A peculiar burden

One 100 and 8 years ago, the British authorities signed the Balfour Declaration, declaring its enactment for a “national location for the Jewish people” successful the onshore of Palestine.

The United Kingdom has been a humanities state for the authorities of Israel against the Palestinians, truthful designation of the authorities is also, to some, a designation of the UK’s complicity successful the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians.

“Britain bears a peculiar load of work to enactment the two-state solution,” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said during a code astatine the UN successful July.

Despite the historical symbolism, analysts were not convinced that the aboriginal would interruption from the past 100 years.

“Even if Palestine is recognised by each state successful the world, small would alteration for Palestinians unless the Israeli concern is dismantled,” Abu Rass said.

“International unit has a relation to play here, but it needs to determination further than specified recognition, including sanctions, cutting diplomatic ties, the prosecution of warfare criminals, and taste boycotts.”