Much of his career was devoted to finding peace between Israelis and Palestinians. As a diplomat and advisor to the president of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, Ghaith Al-Mari participated in the summits of Camp David in 2000 and Taba in 2001.
Now installed in the United States and researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, he remains a privileged observer for the internal dynamics of Palestinian policy but also diplomatic advances in the region. With L’Express, Ghaith Al-Mari underlines the diplomatic weight of France, capable of “breaking the taboo around a Palestinian state”, but recalls that nothing will move without the support of the White House and a Trump administration “which has no plan for the Palestinian question”.
L’Express: Emmanuel Macron announced that France will recognize the State of Palestine in September, before being followed by the United Kingdom and Canada. Is it a major diplomatic advance for Palestinians?
Ghaith Al-omari: Diplomatically, it is considerable. Recognition by France has opened the door to other countries and I expect even more to follow them. But the main question remains: does this have an impact on the field? The answer is no. This has at least the merit of sending a clear message to Israel and internal forces to Palestinian politics.
What is this message?
The Israeli-American position consists in saying that the recognition of a Palestinian state reinforces Hamas: it is a mistake. On the contrary, it weakens Hamas. Hamas is fundamentally against a solution to two states, against the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. France and other countries strengthen the Palestinian authority by showing that this entity is recognized internationally. This wave of recognition occurs in the midst of an even wider diplomatic movement which sees Arab countries condemn on October 7.
But it is only a part of the equation: if the Palestinian authority does not put order in its ranks, does not attack corruption and its governance problems, it will remain unpopular on the ground. It is also a question of putting positive pressure on the Palestinian authority.
Can this diplomatic pressure lead to real changes within the Palestinian leadership?
In recent days, the Palestinian Authority and its President Mahmoud Abbas feel clearly growing wings and they make it known. However, I see absolutely no sign that they are preparing to engage in internal essential reforms. I am afraid that they no longer feel any pressure now that the recognition of a Palestinian state is acquired. The pressure must be maintained for these reforms to take place, and as such France and Europe have important cards to play since Europe remains the main donor of the Palestinian Authority.
What do you think of the statements of Mahmoud Abbas, who finally condemned the attacks of October 7 and promised that the Palestinian State would be demilitarized?
On October 7, he did what was needed. It is however frustrating that it took him so much time, since the Palestinian authority has always been committed to violent actions. He should have condemned these attacks for a long time.
On the demilitarization of a Palestinian state, it is not new: it is even the official position of the Palestinian negotiators from Yasser Arafat. All those who have been involved in these negotiations know that this is an essential element in any peace treaty with Israel.
What conditions should be changed in the field to bring out a Palestinian state?
The first condition would obviously be the end of the war in Gaza. As long as war continues, any progress is impossible. Second, Palestinians need both pressure and support: pressure to reform their institutions because, honestly, if a Palestinian state existed today it would be a failed state. The Palestinian authority is too weak, the Palestinians are too divided and no one wants a new state failed in the Middle East. So the Palestinian authority must move and, on this question, the Arab countries can play a crucial role.
Israel also has a role to play, already by returning to the idea of a solution to two states, which remains very far from the state of mind of the current Israeli government. In fact, Israel must also stop seizing ever more Palestinian lands, ending its colonies.
To be frank, nothing will move without American leadership. Of course, Europe can play an important role, the Arab countries too, but without the United States I do not see how anyone could convince Israel to evolve. Unfortunately, this question does not interest this American administration.
Residents of Gaza carry bags of flour which they received after the entry of humanitarian aid trucks by the crossing point of Zikim, in the north of the territory, July 27, 2025
© / afp.com/BASHAR TALEB
Donald Trump’s position on the Palestinian issue remains difficult to decipher …
His position is difficult to decipher because he has no plan. The Americans are focused at the end of the war in Gaza, they push for a ceasefire with the envoy of President Steve Witkoff who went to Israel … They focus on Gaza but they have absolutely no plan concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The only sign of hope: Donald Trump would very much like normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis very clearly said that there would be no normalization in the absence of concrete and irremediable steps towards a Palestinian state. If there is one element that can move Washington, it is Saudi Arabia. But today, in Washington, no one takes care of this question and there is no plan.
This diplomatic initiative around a Palestinian state comes from a partnership between France and Saudi Arabia. What do you think of this duo and what he says of the current Middle East?
First of all, it shows that the center of the gravity of the region has moved. Previously, the country with the most diplomatic weight was Egypt. Today, it is obviously Saudi Arabia, and this initiative demonstrates it. France has taken orders in Europe and the Saudis have taken control in the Arab world.
It is very interesting because these two countries have very different qualities: Donald Trump criticized France for this initiative, but he did not say a word on Saudi Arabia. This means that Saudis have a lot of influence at Washington, more than Europe and traditional Arab countries. This importance gives weight to the diplomatic initiative. And on the other hand you have France, with its European role of course and also its very strong diplomatic teams. It is a good alliance.
But again: without involvement of Americans, it will be very complicated to move Israel. The Saudis will have to weigh their full weight in Washington.
Donald Trump criticized Emmanuel Macron’s initiative, assuring that he said about Palestine “doesn’t matter”. How to qualify the role played by French diplomacy on this file?
I perceive a real concern in France and in the majority of Europe around the future of a solution to two states. There is a feeling of urgency. It is not only a political maneuver but the result of real concern. The French declaration was very important, it broke the taboo. Once France said that it was going to recognize the Palestinian state, it made the task much easier in the United Kingdom, Canada and we will soon hear Australia, Malta and others. The role of France was essential.
The problem remains that France and Saudi Arabia do not have the tools to change reality in the field. They create a diplomatic momentum, but we still need actors who can really change things: the United States.
Israel assures that recognizing today a Palestinian state is to reward Hamas’ terrorist strategy. What do you think?
It’s absurd. First of all, these recognitions are made within the framework of the conference on the two -state solution [de l’ONU]. This conference sentenced uncompromising on October 7, it clearly calls on Hamas to render arms and withdraw from any government.
Then Hamas rejects the solution to two states. The ideology of Hamas is based on the refusal of the recognition of the State of Israel. So relaunching the solution to two states amounts to weakening Hamas’ strategy and proclaiming loud and clear that its way of doing things does not work. Recognizing a Palestinian state does not strengthen Hamas but weakens it.
One of the objectives of the war waged by Israel in Gaza is to completely get rid of Hamas, both militarily and politically. Is it possible?
It is not an impossible objective to achieve, but not the way Israel does. First of all, a terrorist organization like Hamas must be fighting militarily. The objective of undergoing Hamas on the military field is completely legitimate. However, this is not enough: you have to give birth to an alternative.
Today, Hamas acts as an insurrection. We have seen it recently in Iraq, the only way to beat an insurrection is to create an alternative. As long as, on the one hand, Israel refuses to anyone, in particular to the Palestinian authority, the right to come to Gaza, and that, on the other hand, the Palestinian authority does not reform and is not attractive to the Palestinians, it will be very difficult to destroy Hamas as an ideology. Without alternative, ideologies tend to survive.
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