Czechia not ready to recognize Palestinian state at UN General Assembly
With growing international support for a Palestinian state, will Czechia be under pressure to change its pro-Israeli stance? Ahead of his departure for the UN General Assembly, President Petr Pavel said that recognizing a Palestinian state is not possible without the involvement of all parties, including Israel.
The process of Palestinian statehood must be the result of negotiations between all interested parties, including Israel, said President Petr Pavel before leaving for the United States to attend the UN General Assembly. He said that otherwise, it would be a political declaration that could complicate the negotiations themselves.
According to Pavel, Czechia approaches the issue of Palestinians in Israel primarily from the perspective of providing humanitarian aid, putting pressure on Israel to end combat operations, and for the terrorist organization Hamas to return all hostages. "It will only be possible to talk about the next steps once the basic humanitarian needs of the Palestinian population have been met, and that will obviously take some time," said President Pavel.
"Once that happens, it will be necessary to begin rebuilding the territory and also to begin creating something that can at least resemble the structure of some form of self-government," he added.
Speaking to political scientist Jiří Pehe on Pavel’s comments, I asked him whether international pressure could force Czechia’s hand in recognizing a Palestinian state:
“Well, I think the Czech Republic will face increased pressure on this, and it could become somewhat isolated in Europe. Right now, it’s one of the two or three strongly pro-Israeli countries on the continent, which sometimes puts it at odds with EU resolutions and decisions concerning Israel. Given that major European players have moved toward recognizing the Palestinian state, that shifts the dynamic. Eventually, the Czech Republic will likely have to evaluate its position so it doesn’t appear to be ignoring what's happening in the international community.”
Pavel argued that widespread displacement is not an option. "In any case, neither side, and by that I mean the extreme views, can count on the problem being solved by the displacement or elimination of the other. That is a solution with no future," he warned.
Instead, Pavel believes that Palestinians must have representation internationally to argue for their interests at international councils. "There needs to be a representative speaking for Palestinians as a nation, with whom it is then possible to negotiate a new arrangement," he explained.
According to Pehe, Czechia’s foreign policy direction will not change anytime soon, be it under Prime Minister Petr Fiala (Spolu) or under opposition leader Andrej Babiš (ANO):
“I think on this particular issue, there’s a degree of consensus among all the major political parties. So, I don’t see Babiš, if he’s elected, radically changing this policy. Secondly, he would coordinate with the Visegrád neighbors. We know that Hungary, at this point, is a very staunch supporter of Israel, no matter what. So, I think Babiš, who doesn’t hold back on his support for Orbán, would probably consult with Viktor Orbán as well.”
The war in the Middle East will be one of the main topics at the UN General Assembly, where Pavel is leading the Czech delegation. The Czech president will address the General Assembly on Wednesday.
