Ireland has indicated its willingness to recognize a Palestinian state prematurely as the Israel and Hamas conflict enters its seventh month.
“I’ve maintained ongoing discussions with ministerial colleagues and other countries about how a joint formal recognition of Palestinian statehood could be a catalyst to help the people of Gaza and the West Bank and in furthering an Arab-led peace initiative,” Irish deputy premier Micheal Marti told the Independent on Tuesday.
According to the Irish diplomat, there is a “desperate overwhelming need to return some hope” to Gaza, and the only way to do so is by recognizing a Palestinian state, with or without Israel’s participation.
“We’ve discussed this between the government parties, and it is my intention to bring a formal proposal on recognition,” he said. “We’ve agreed that the undermining of the Oslo Accords and therefore the agreement to create two states has reached the point where the accords’ approach with recognition after a final agreement is not credible or tenable any longer,” he said.
Ireland’s decision does not come as much of a surprise as international support for the premature recognition of a Palestinian state has been growing in recent weeks, with the likes of the United Kingdom, Australia, and Spain recently jumping on the bandwagon. In addition, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar made his position clear following a tirade on CNN in February accusing the Jewish state of being “blinded by rage “in its war against Hams.
“They [Israel] have become blinded by rage, and they are going to, I believe, make the situation much worse for their own security in the long term by going down the path they are going,” Varadkar said.
