Half of European Union Backs Palestinian State
Image by getty images
Nearly half of all European Union member states will vote in favor of upgrading the Palestinian Authority’s status at the United Nations, an E.U. spokesperson reportedly said.
The news site E.U. Observer on Tuesday quoted the E.U.’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Maja Kocijancic, as saying that “about 12” of the E.U.’s 27 member states will vote in favor of the Palestinian bid to gain U.N. “Observer State status” on the basis of “the pre-1967 borders.”
Last year, the U.N.’s cultural office, UNESCO, admitted “Palestine” as a member. Eleven E.U. countries – Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Spain – voted in favor. Another 11 abstained, and five – the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Sweden – voted against.
Cyprus and Israel have since developed closer ties over joint exploration of natural gas in the Mediterranean Sea. But Dutch foreign minister Uri Rosenthal left his post in a new coalition government this week.
Rosenthal’s successor, center-left politician Frans Timmermans, has in the past criticized the Dutch government’s pro-Israeli line.
In September of last year, Timmermans wrote on his Twitter account: “The Dutch policy in the Middle East is being determined by Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu,” Israel’s prime minister.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
