Quiet Diplomacy Bears Fruit: Three Additional European Countries Recognize Palestine

A report by Nada Andraos, English adaptation by Nadine Sassine

Those following developments related to the Palestinian cause on the political and diplomatic fronts are not surprised by the announcement of three additional European countries recognizing the state of Palestine.

This recognition isn't solely due to the ongoing war in Gaza for the past eight months and the massacres committed by Israel against the Palestinian people, nor is it solely due to the growing global sympathy for the rights of this people to live freely on their land. Rather, it's because of a quiet diplomacy that has been in the works for some time to urge Western countries to recognize the state of Palestine.

This diplomacy crystallized during the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit hosted by Riyadh last November, following the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation and the outbreak of war in Gaza. 

Ministers of Foreign Affairs from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Indonesia, Nigeria, Palestine, and the secretaries-general of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation were tasked with initiating international action to halt the war in Gaza and urge countries to recognize Palestine.

This diplomacy expanded its scope through a number of ministerial meetings and Arab-European tours, notably the Arab-Islamic-European meeting attended by 19 countries on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh late last April, which discussed international recognition of the Palestinian state.

Saudi Arabia's quiet diplomacy seems to be bearing fruit.

Riyadh, which welcomed the recognition of three European countries of the state of Palestine, called on the remaining countries to hasten the same decision. The international community and the permanent members of the Security Council, which have not yet recognized the Palestinian state, were urged to expedite recognition of this state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem, "to enable the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate rights and to achieve comprehensive and just peace for all."

These principles will not waver, and they seem to also be at the heart of negotiations with the United States on a series of agreements in the fields of nuclear energy, security, and defense within a broader agreement paving the way for normalization between Riyadh and Israel.

Negotiations were discussed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his congressional hearing, revealing that final touches to the agreements may be made in a matter of weeks. 

However, Blinken was cautious in his optimism, especially since Saudi Arabia informed him of its conditions for normalization with Israel, which are:

1. Establishing calm in Gaza.

2. Establishing a reliable path leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Based on this, the Kingdom continues its quiet diplomacy with the aim of expanding the circle of countries recognizing the state of Palestine. Alongside Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, it will attend a meeting with the foreign ministers of EU countries in Brussels to attempt to chart a common path to end the war and achieve permanent peace, amid consensus on the need for a Palestinian state.