Australia was among the first countries to recognise the state of Israel, but regrettably looks set to be among the last to recognise the state of Palestine. 

Three-quarters of the world — more than 140 countries — already recognise Palestine is a state, as does the United Nations. Australia’s close allies may soon follow, including France, the United Kingdom and Canada.

The momentum is driven by horror at Israel’s relentless destruction in Gaza, the failure of more than 30 years of negotiations for a two-state solution since the Oslo Accords in 1993, Israel’s persistent denial of Palestinian self-determination, de facto annexation of Palestinian land in the West Bank by illegal Israeli settlements and the extremism of the Netanyahu Government. Also, no-one believes that the US is an honest broker for peace, having fuelled Israeli war crimes with an endless supply of weapons and even threatening to seize Gaza.

Current moves are a long-overdue circuit-breaker in a century of conflict when everything else has failed. The Palestinians were first promised a state more than a century ago. A 1947 United Nations proposal to divide the  British Mandate of Palestine into two states did not go to plan.

Israel unilaterally declared statehood in 1948 after an insurgency against Britain, terrorism against civilians and even assassination of UN officials. It established effective control and independence after a war with invading Arab countries. Australia recognised Israel within six months.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation declared Palestine a state in 1988. International law does not prohibit unilateral declarations, as by Kosovo in 2008, but they do not create a state unless legal criteria are met. According to classical international law, statehood is a test of power. A state exists if it has a defined territory, a permanent population, an effective government, an ability to enter into foreign relations and relative independence from other states.

Palestine largely meets these. There is international consensus that its territory is presumptively defined by the pre-1967 war borders, encompassing the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza. The precise borders remain to be agreed, but this has never been fatal to the existence of states, many of whom disagree with neighbours about borders.

There is a core national population of Palestinian residents, potentially supplemented by Palestinian refugees returning from abroad, and excluding almost 700,000 Israeli settlers.

There is a clear capacity to enter into foreign relations. Palestine engages diplomatically with other states, is an observer state in the United Nations, and makes treaties with other states.

There is certainly doubt about the effectiveness and independence of Palestine’s Government, which controls only part of the West Bank and none of Gaza, and remains subject to a near 60-year Israeli military occupation. Yet international law sometimes flexibly applies the classical criteria in hard cases and special circumstances.

This is where recognition of statehood is crucial. Normally, recognition does not create a state, but simply endorses that the legal criteria are met. In this unusual case, recognition by three-quarters of the world is powerful evidence that Palestine is considered close enough to meeting the legal criteria to be regarded as a state, even under occupation.

A second key factor is that the Palestinians have an undisputed right to self-determination, which is the freedom to choose to become a state. Since this right has been forcibly denied by Israeli occupation for so long, most countries are persuaded that statehood can exceptionally emerge even without full independence. Last year, the International Court of Justice demanded Israel end its illegal occupation as soon as possible. The General Assembly gave Israel a deadline of this September.

Statehood matters because it confers many rights, including to control and defend national territory, govern and enforce laws, develop natural resources, trade, make treaties and engage in diplomacy, and protect its rights and citizens. It also imposes duties to respect international law, including the sovereignty and security of other countries and human rights.

Being a state, and recognition, does not guarantee these rights in practice. It cannot stop starvation and war crimes, end occupation or evacuate settlements. But it significantly raises the legal and political price for violating those rights, isolates Israel and the US, and adds momentum towards independence.

The Netanyahu Government is no partner for peace. It aims to extinguish any possibility of an independent Palestine as its ever-expanding colonial settlements and annihilation of Gaza attest. Indeed, Israel has never offered Palestinians a peace deal that respects their international legal rights. The UK is naive if it believes that threatening recognition will return Israel to the bargaining table. Israel’s current war of vengeance has proved it to be a grave threat to the very survival of Palestinians, as well as endangering Israeli hostages.

Non-recognition, and denial of statehood, rewards Israeli occupation and international crimes. It also fails to address the root causes of Hamas’ terrorism. Hamas was born to resist the occupation, as well as being antisemitic. Its methods are illegal and unjustifiable. Yet as the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy emphasises, terrorism can only be defeated if we address the state violations of human rights that fuel grievances and violence.

Just as alleged Hamas war criminals must not be in a Palestinian Government, Israeli alleged war criminals, including the Israeli prime minister, must be excluded from the Israeli Government. Just as Palestinian armed groups must not be allowed to threaten Israel’s future security, Israel must not threaten Palestine’s security. It is, after all, Israel that has violently occupied Palestine for almost 60 years, not vice versa. Demilitarisation of a Palestinian state would be welcome if Israel did the same.

A Palestinian state cannot cure the historical injustices of Israel’s foundation, with Israel taking 78% of the British Mandate of Palestine despite Jews being the minority, and the mass expulsion of refugees and theft of Palestinian property. But it is a vital step towards remedying the past, stopping extermination in the present and ensuring equality and peace in the future.

Republished from The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 August 2025

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.