In the context of the current Israeli-Palestinian war, several states have suggested the possibility of recognition of Palestine.
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About 150 countries recognize Palestine as a state, but not Switzerland. Here are the reasons.
During the UN Conference on the Middle East which was held at the end of July, several Western countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada, suggested that they were soon to recognize Palestine as an independent state. Little before, France had declared its intention to do so. Four of the five members of the UN Security Council-with the exception of the United States-would recognize a Palestinian state.
Switzerland has been pronounced for a long time in favor of the two -state solution. Currently, however, it excludes any recognition from Palestine. Here are the answers to the most important questions on the subject.
What about the recognition of Palestine in Switzerland?
Switzerland supportsExternal link The solution to two states such as sketched by the UN, on the basis of the borders of 1967 and with East Jerusalem as the capital. If it is sometimes deemed unrealistic or impossible, this solution remains the only vision widely supported by international law for Israel/Palestine. To date, 147 of the 193 UN Member States (around 76%) have recognized Palestine as a state.
France and Malta announced their intention to recognize Palestine in September. The United Kingdom has laid certain conditions for this recognition. Ads from other states are also expected:
During the UN conference in July, the representative of the Federal Foreign Affairs Department (DFAE), Ambassador Monika Schmutz Kirgöz, summed upExternal link The Swiss position in these terms: “The recognition of a Palestinian state must register, (in the eyes of Switzerland), in the perspective of a lasting peace based on the solution to two states.”
This recognition may be envisaged “when concrete implementation measures – guaranteeing both the security of Israel and the right to self -determination of the Palestinian people – will have been engaged”.
This means that Switzerland will only recognize a Palestinian state after the implementation of a global peace solution and a corresponding political roadmap, in collaboration with Israel.
Switzerland thus takes a different path from that of many other states, which want to put pressure on Israel by recognizing Palestine in order to advance the solution to two states. The United Kingdom, for example, has conditioned possible recognition to the proclamation of a cease-fire by Israel, and to its commitment to lasting peace and the solution to two states.
It is not certain that this pressure is bearing fruit: last year, the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) said in a resolutionExternal link That a Palestinian State would constitute “an existential threat to Israel” and “firmly” opposed its creation.
Since the Second World War, Switzerland only recognizes states, not governments, as do many other countries. International law does not specify if and when a state recognizes another state. Recognition is considered to be the expression of a declaration of unilateral will; It is the expression of state sovereignty. Each state therefore has its own rules and traditions as to the way it recognizes other states as subjects of international law.
For Switzerland, the central element is effectiveness (the need for effective state sovereignty to be recognized). In her practice, she is inspired by the theory of the three elements: a territory, a people and a government. Depending on the general political context, it has always left a big room for maneuver in the application of these criteria: the decisionExternal link recognition is “the political assessment of Switzerland”. Other elements such as “the attitude of the International Community of States or an important group of States for it” can be taken into account.
The recognition of a state is done by the Federal Council, the Swiss government being responsible for the country’s foreign policy. Discussions on the need to involve moreExternal link Parliament has been held on several occasions in the past, notably during the recognition of Kosovo, which Switzerland was one of the first countries to recognize. This has not happened so far.
Regarding the Middle East, the position of the Swiss government is in any case the same as that of Parliament: in 2024, a postulateExternal link Deposited to the National Council requested recognition of Palestine. The question was the subject of an animated debate, but it was finally rejected by 131 votes against 61. During the debate, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ignazio Cassis, said that, from the point of view of the government, “it was not the moment” to recognize Palestine. It was also said that such recognition was to be part of a peace plan.
A few months earlier, Switzerland had abstained during the vote on the request for membership of Palestine to the UN (since 2012, Palestine has there has been an observer status). “Switzerland considers that the very unstable situation in the Middle East and in a global perspective of peace policy, the full membership of Palestine to the UN is not appropriate at the moment,” then wroteExternal link The Federal Council.
When Switzerland has it recognized Israel-and what conclusions can we draw from it?
To date, 164 of the 192 UN Member States (around 85%) have recognized the State of Israel. According to the Palestine sharing plan adopted by the UN in November 1947, the territory was to be divided into an Arab state and a Jewish state. The declaration of independence of Israel took place on May 14, 1948, and the country was admitted to the UN a year later.
Switzerland officially recognized Israel on March 18, 1949. “Anxious to maintain good relations with the Arab countries of the Near East, the Federal Council awaited the decision of other states before () recognizing it,” we can read on this subject in the Historical Dictionary of SwitzerlandExternal link.
What is Switzerland’s policy in the Middle East?
States recognition has therefore always depended on various political factors, including global developments and internal policy considerations. Despite the current international dynamics in favor of the recognition of Palestine in order to allow peace in the region, official Switzerland still opposes it.
Switzerland has repeatedly stressed that it “resolutely supported” international efforts aimed at implementing the two -state solution. In Geneva, several discussions were held on the subject, and initiatives have been launched. If Switzerland recognized a Palestinian state – which Israel categorically refuses -, Geneva may no longer be considered as an appropriate place for discussions.
However, Switzerland generally shows restraint in its policy in the Middle East. She has certainly been clearly condemnedExternal link The “military climbing” and the violence perpetrated “with impunity” in the West Bank. Unlike the United States and the EU, however, it has not yet imposed sanctions against extremist Israeli colonists. The Federal Council reservesExternal link However, this possibility.
Rely and verified text By Benjamin von Wyl/VDV, translated from German by Albertine Bourget/sj
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