France recognizes the State of Palestine at the UN

"The time for peace has come," the French president proclaimed.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced today the recognition of the State of Palestine at the opening of an "international conference for the two-state solution (Israel and Palestine)" being held at the UN.

The moment Macron declared the recognition, the room erupted in applause. The French president, following the official recognition of the Palestinian state, asserted that "the time for peace has come." "This recognition is to affirm that the Palestinian people are a people who never say goodbye to anything, like Mahmoud Darwish (in reference to the Palestinian poet), a people with solid historical roots and dignity," Macron added.

"This recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people does not diminish the rights of the people of Israel, which France has supported from day one," he recalled.

He also stressed that "this recognition is a defeat for Hamas, as well as for all those who promote antisemitism and fuel anti-Zionist obsessions and seek the destruction of the State of Israel."

The step taken by France is very important for several reasons: France has the largest Jewish community in Europe , has historically been one of Israel's staunchest allies, and has a permanent seat (and therefore veto power) on the UN Security Council, in addition to being one of the world's leading economies.

Macron also announced that five more countries will join in the recognition of the Palestinian state in the coming hours: Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, Andorra, and San Marino.

With all these new names, the number of countries that recognize the State of Palestine will rise to 157, out of a total of 193 UN member states.

However, among those who do not recognize it are important countries such as the United States, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands , which maintain that such recognition should be made in agreement with Israel.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres had earlier today recalled that achieving a Palestinian state "is a right, not a reward," and warned that "denying (the Palestinians) such a state would be a gift to extremists."

Guterres made these statements in his introductory speech to the International Conference for the Two-State Solution (Israel and Palestine), organized by France and Saudi Arabia , where several countries were already expected to take the step of recognizing the Palestinian state, as France has done.