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, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
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.
