Europe’s Reckless Recognition of Palestine Threatens the U.S.–Europe Alliance

This month, European governments—including the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Belgium, and others—plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). They will claim this is about “peace” and “justice.” In reality, it is a betrayal of a key U.S. ally, a gift to terrorists, and a direct slap in the face to the United States.

This is not statesmanship—it is surrender. By rewarding the butchers of Hamas, European leaders are legitimizing terror as a political strategy. It emboldens radicals, sidelines Israel’s legitimate security concerns, and erases the progress of the Abraham Accords, which proved that real peace in the Middle East comes through strength and economic cooperation, not appeasement and symbolic recognition at the U.N.

By recognizing a “Palestinian state,” these governments intend to confer legitimacy to the Palestinian Authority led by president-for-life Mahmoud Abbas, which has not held an election in nearly two decades and which openly funds “pay-for-slay” stipends to terrorists’ families, refuses to renounce Hamas, and incites hatred against Jews. The Trump administration made it clear what it thinks about this illegitimate government: Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked the visas of Abbas and 80 other officials ahead of the UNGA.