by Eric J. Lyman
The recognition of Palestine by more European countries as a sovereign, independent nation increases the challenges President Biden faces as he seeks re-election and brokers a long-term peace agreement between Israel and Palestinian-backed Hamas.
This development could potentially tip the scales in the expected direction a tight presidential race between Biden and former President Donald Trumpwith Biden’s Democratic Party likely abandoning him in favor of support for longtime Middle East ally Israel.
Last interviews for ABC News with more than a dozen activists, Democratic operatives and voters reveal uncertainty about whether the six-month-long war in Gaza is significantly shifting political loyalties in the U.S., turning away party voters and perhaps independents.
“Potentially,” said Wa’el Alzayat, head of the Muslim organization Emgage, when asked by a news outlet whether Gaza differed with its election results.
“I think this is a rare occurrence in American politics, but we have clearly seen that this policy is unpopular in the Democratic Party. … The president won the mandate by gathering, as they say, a coalition of various groups under the big Democratic tent, and his policies are contrary to the electoral strategy because they cause a split in the party.”
Alzayat also said it’s not just Arabs and Muslims who seem to be moving away from Biden.
“You see progressives, teenage voters, black voters, liberal Jewish voters or progressive Jewish voters. That’s a pretty good part of the party,” he said.
Criticism that Biden is not doing enough to stop Israel from killing civilians in its war and creating a humanitarian crisis, largely over food, is likely to intensify as a result of the country’s airstrike on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which took place in last weekend, resulting in the deaths of at least 45 people, including war refugees living in tents.
In Europe, three countries – Ireland, Norway and Spain – said yes formally recognize the possibility of establishing a state in Palestine, valid from Tuesday. Two other European countries, Malta and Slovenia, will follow suit in the coming weeks.
According to reports, the White House knew well in advance about the three countries’ decision, but was not ecstatic with it.
Biden’s position was that a Palestinian state should be “implemented through direct negotiations … not unilateral recognition,” says National Security Council adviser Jake Sullivan.
Moreover, the Biden administration fears the recognition could strengthen the Palestinian-backed Hamas militant group fighting Israel in Gaza, an anonymous source told Politico.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris he emphasized that this is what his country would like for the resumption of diplomacy between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and that it does not want to offer diplomatic rescue to the militant group, – also reports “Wiadomość”..
Public support for Biden’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas According to recent surveys, the population has been degenerating since the war began last October. The latest survey shows that as many as one in five voters in five key states say they are “less likely” to vote for Biden because of the way they deal with conflicts.
Trump, Biden’s likely Republican challenger in November, meanwhile has been steadfast in his support of Israel, and earlier this month reportedly promised that if re-elected he would set back the pro-Palestinian movement in the US by “25 to 30 years.”
Pressure from European states on the Palestinians to effectively have their own state has also angered Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured above) accused European nations of offering “reward for terror“
Additionally, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz immediately recalled the country’s ambassadors from Ireland and Norway and threatened to do the same to Spain.
“I am sending a powerful signal to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not discuss this issue in silence,” he said.
But perhaps more importantly, the decisions to recognize Palestine are the latest evidence that the United States’ global influence is waning.
The three European countries will not be the first to recognize some version of Palestinian statehood: most countries in the world already recognize it as a sovereign state. However, these will be the first diplomatic decorations since the beginning of the bloody conflict.
The latest moves, while mostly symbolic, also represent a grave blow to U.S. influence on this sensitive topic.
Just 50 of the 193 member states of the United Nations do not recognize Palestine but this group includes almost all of Washington’s closest global allies, including Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and – so far – almost all of Western Europe.
Last month, a US veto was the only thing that prevented the UN Security Council from approving a resolution on… admit the State of Palestine as a voting member of the body.
This delayed action, leaving Palestine in a kind of limbo as a “UN permanent observer” state (the only other a country with such a status is the miniature Vaticanin which approximately 800 priests and nuns live, which does not meet the principle of “permanent population”).
However, if enough countries – especially those within the US sphere of influence – decide to recognize Palestinian autonomy, the world may be forced to once again confront its most intractable political problem.
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Eric J. Lyman is a reporter for Just the News.
“Benjamin Netanyahu” photo by Avi Ohayon CC BY-SA 3.0. Cover photo “Dome of the Rock” by Andrew Śiva CC BY-SA 4.0.
