RECOGNITION OF THE STATE OF PALESTINE. WHAT IS AT STAKE?​

The Palestinian people have a right to hope and the Israeli people have a right to security. That is the path to peace. That is the way to put an end to permanent violence and endless pain between peoples called to live together. Moreover, as we have seen since the events of October 7 and those that followed, the risk of regional escalation is more real than ever, with unpredictable geopolitical, economic and humanitarian consequences.

To ensure peace, Spain advocates a two-state solution. To make that solution irreversible is to make peace in the region irreversible and there is a way to achieve it: to recognize Palestine as a State and as a member of the United Nations.

The only way to put an end to this recurrent loop of violence in the Middle East is the two-state solution, assumed by the international community as a whole. Now is the time to do so, and Spain will do so on May 28. May the solution we all recognize -a Palestinian State living side by side with the State of Israel, in peace and security- become a fact. May peace between Israelis and Palestinians finally become a reality.

The establishment of the Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel is certainly a matter of justice, but it is also the only option for peace. The Palestinian state must be viable, unifying Gaza and the West Bank under the same Palestinian Authority, with a corridor between them and with access to the sea, and its capital in East Jerusalem.

Spain has consistently engaged with all parties involved in the search for a peaceful solution to the conflict. President Sanchez and I have visited the region on several occasions since October 7. We have also held numerous talks with various regional partners and have urged the avoidance of regional escalation. Spain has been a pioneer in calling for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and the provision of humanitarian aid to civilians in need.

For this reason, we have decided to recognize the Palestinian State, because the stakes are high: peace, justice, but, above all, hope and future.

Spain will recognize the Palestinian State because the Palestinian people cannot be condemned to be a people of refugees, because it is the way to peace in the Middle East, because it is good for the security of Israel.

The Palestinian people have a right to a future with hope, just as the Israeli people have a right to a future in peace and security, and after so many decades of pain we know that there cannot be one without the other: security in Israel, peace in the region, are intertwined with the hope for the Palestinian people to have a state. Both are entitled to it, the same right.

The Spanish Parliament urged the Government to recognize the State of Palestine on November 18, 2014. Our decision is also deeply rooted within Spanish society. Recognition has been announced on several occasions and is an irreversible commitment of our Government. In addition, Spain has proposed the holding of an International Peace Conference in the shortest possible time, the objective of which is to move towards the materialization of this solution. The European Union has endorsed our proposal, as have the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. In all, more than 80 countries. We hope that this multilateral diplomacy in action will contribute to opening a new page of history in the Middle East: that of definitive peace.

And the best way to protect and ensure that this two-state solution will be implemented is also to admit the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations. This implies its recognition by all, as the vast majority of its members have already done, and as Spain is going to do.

We cannot wait any longer. In May 1948, three years after the San Francisco Conference that gave rise to this organization, the United Nations launched its first peacekeeping operation. The first in history. It was 76 years ago, and that first peacekeeping mission was precisely in Palestine. There is no older problem that this organization has faced. How much longer must we wait to solve it?

Hundreds of thousands of people – entire families, children – are, at this moment, deprived of food, water, medicine, shelter.

There are more than 100 hostages in the hands of Hamas; how many more days must they and their families wait to return home? Since that horrible October 7, violence has taken the lives of 1,200 Israelis, more than 35,000 Palestinians. How many more innocent lives must be ruined?

The Palestinian people must have a state of their own, and also the place and existence of Israel must be recognized by all those who have not yet done so.

It is justice for Palestine, it is the best guarantee of security for Israel, and it is the first and fundamental condition for a future of peace and prosperity in the region.

And these – peace, justice, hope and future – are the values that the international community must support and defend. They are also those that guide Spain’s commitment and what we defend for Palestine: for peace, for justice and for pure human dignity.

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JOSÉ MANUEL ALBARES BUENO is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Spain.

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