What to expect at the UN’s Israel-Palestine peace push

In a significant diplomatic push, the United Nations General Assembly has convened a two-day high-level meeting this week to re-centre global focus on the long-standing Israel-Palestine conflict. The aim: to promote a two-state solution that would see both peoples living side by side in peace, as independent nations.

Who is hosting the meeting, and who’s staying away?

The meeting, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, began on Monday. However, both Israel and its close ally, the United States, are boycotting the gathering. Israel’s current right-wing government has long opposed a two-state solution, while the US labelled the meeting “counterproductive” to its efforts to end the war in Gaza.

Initially scheduled for late June as a four-day summit, the meeting was delayed and shortened amidst rising tensions in the region, including Israel’s 12-day conflict with Iran and the ongoing war in Gaza.

Why now, and what’s the goal?

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, speaking on CBS News' Face the Nation, said, “It was absolutely necessary to restart a political process, the two-state solution process, that is today threatened, more threatened than it has ever been."

France and Saudi Arabia have been clear in their objective to place the two-state solution back at the centre of global peace efforts and begin laying out a practical roadmap to achieve it.

In a document circulated to UN members in May, the co-chairs outlined their main goal: to identify actions by “all relevant actors” to implement the two-state solution and “to urgently mobilise the necessary efforts and resources to achieve this aim, through concrete and time-bound commitments.”

Saudi diplomat Manal Radwan, who led her country’s delegation to the preparatory conference, stated the meeting must “chart a course for action, not reflection.” She added it should be “anchored in a credible and irreversible political plan that addresses the root cause of the conflict and offers a real path to peace, dignity and mutual security.”

What is the history behind the two-state idea?

The concept of partitioning the land dates back to the end of the British mandate over Palestine. In 1947, the UN proposed dividing the territory into Jewish and Arab states. While Israel accepted the plan, its declaration of independence in 1948 sparked war with neighbouring Arab nations, and the plan was never implemented.

By 1949, Jordan controlled the West Bank and east Jerusalem, while Egypt administered Gaza. Israel captured all three territories during the 1967 Mideast war, and since then, Palestinians have sought them as part of a future state.

The two-state solution, based on Israel’s pre-1967 boundaries, has been the foundation for peace talks since the 1990s and continues to enjoy broad international support. Its logic rests on the population balance in Israel, the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, where Jews and Palestinians are roughly equal in number. An independent Palestinian state would preserve Israel’s Jewish-majority democracy and give Palestinians the long-sought goal of self-determination.

How does France’s position influence the discussion?

French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced that France would officially recognise the State of Palestine at the annual UN General Assembly gathering in September. With around 145 countries having already done so, France becomes the most influential Western nation to take this step.

Macron’s declaration comes at a time of increasing global concern over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where food shortages have reached deadly levels.

Why do Israel and the US oppose the talks?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firmly rejects the two-state solution, citing both nationalistic and security concerns.

He and his religious-nationalist base see the West Bank as the ancestral Jewish homeland, and east Jerusalem, which includes Judaism’s holiest site and important Christian and Muslim shrines, as Israel’s undivided capital.

Hard-line Israelis argue the Palestinians do not want peace, pointing to the second intifada in the early 2000s and the Hamas takeover of Gaza just two years after Israel withdrew from the territory in 2005. That takeover has led to five wars, including the current 21-month-long conflict.

Netanyahu’s preferred approach appears to be maintaining the current status quo, where Israel retains overarching control, expands settlements, and grants Palestinians limited autonomy under the Palestinian Authority. He condemned France’s recognition plans, saying it “rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became.”

What do the Palestinians want from this meeting?

Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the PLO Executive Committee and close ally of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the meeting is intended as preparation for a summit expected in September. That meeting is likely to take place either in France or on the sidelines of the UN’s high-level General Assembly.

Majdalani outlined key Palestinian goals: the launch of a “serious international political process leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state,” increased international recognition of Palestinian statehood, especially by countries like Britain, and economic support for the Palestinian Authority. He also stressed the need for international backing in rebuilding and recovering Gaza.

What outcomes can be expected?

All 193 UN member states were invited to attend, and according to a French diplomat, around 40 ministers are participating. A final outcome document has been circulated and could be adopted during the meeting. There may also be announcements of intent to recognise Palestine.

But with the absence of Israel and the United States, two of the most pivotal players, no immediate breakthrough or renewed negotiations are expected.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, however, called on participants “to keep the two-state solution alive.” He added the international community must not only support a solution where Israel and an independent Palestine live side by side in peace, but also “materialise the conditions to make it happen.”

AP inputs