The notion that the “tsunami of recognitions” of the State of Palestine was triggered by Hamas’ October 2023 attacks is a distortion of reality. The irony is that this narrative is repeated both by Netanyahu and by Arab extremists alike.
Benjamin Netanyahu describes recognition and the two-state solution as a “reward for Hamas” in order to inflame Israeli public opinion and embarrass the US administration.
As for Hamas extremists, they also claim that it is the fruit of October 7. The truth is exactly the opposite. Hamas launched a wide-scale attack to abort the “two-state solution” project that Saudi Arabia was negotiating with former US President Joe Biden’s administration.
Washington had set as a condition for signing a defense and security agreement with Riyadh that Saudi Arabia recognize Israel, and Saudi Arabia in turn put forth a price for that recognition – namely, the establishment of a Palestinian state – and negotiations began. After a few months, Hamas launched its large-scale attack, knowing that it would be followed by an Israeli war and the sabotage of the negotiations.
It has become known that Hamas’ decision, like that of the Houthis and Hezbollah, is tied to Tehran, which is always determined to prevent any political progress that might curb its drive to dominate the region as a hegemonic power.
Hamas, along with Iran’s axis, has a long record of spoiling every peace initiative, aligning with the wishes of Israeli extremists. They too oppose any political project that could lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Hamas sabotaged the “Road Map” in 2003 with two separate bus bombings that killed forty Israelis. It succeeded once again in undermining the Annapolis Conference in 2007 and then obstructed Trump’s peace plan in 2020 by carrying out three separate attacks.
This time, with its horrific October 2023 attack, Hamas destroyed itself and its allies, foremost among them Hezbollah, the Assad regime, and Iran. In this regional vacuum, Netanyahu seeks to double his gains by destroying Gaza and annexing the West Bank.
In this dangerous vacuum as well, the Saudi-proposed two-state solution project was activated. A race then emerged between two projects: Netanyahu’s project of liquidating the Palestinian cause by officially annexing the West Bank and securing the support of the US administration; and the Saudi project, which France announced it had joined and adopted, by mobilizing global support for the establishment of a Palestinian state. For months now, a heated diplomatic battle has been underway, culminating in 151 countries recognizing Palestine as a state.
Before this historic moment, Israel’s government launched a series of threats to block the UN vote: tightening the siege on Gaza and depriving its residents of food and medicine, expanding military operations, turning toward the West Bank by disrupting banking activity and threatening a financial and economic collapse, overlooking settler attacks on West Bank residents, permitting further illegal settlement construction, and succeeding in preventing the Palestinian president from participating in the United Nations.
Despite all this, the Saudi and French diplomatic mobilization continued and was crowned by the recognition of Palestine by Britain, France, Canada, and Australia – the four countries closest to the United States and Israel.
It is a remarkable success. Yet we must caution that these historic diplomatic achievements are only the beginning. They will provoke the anger of Arab and Israeli extremists, who will work to create chaos and derail the Palestinian state project. The crossing attack at the Jordan bridge was aimed at striking the project, whether orchestrated by Hamas, Iran, or others. And extremists in Israel are waiting for any attacks to move to the next step: annexing the West Bank and dismantling the Palestinian Authority.
We are living through a new phase, as most Palestinians and Arabs have come to believe in the two-state solution, which explicitly means recognizing the State of Israel as well, and putting an end to 80 years of conflicts, chaos, and hatred. This is an important development and it will not be achieved easily. The Saudi project may require support and adoption by the US administration, and if that happens, President Trump would fully deserve a Nobel Peace Prize.
