Berlin has no plans to immediately recognise a Palestinian state because that would undermine any efforts to reach a negotiated solution with Israel, a German government spokesman said Friday.
“A negotiated two-state solution remains our goal, even if it seems a long way off today. … The recognition of Palestine is more likely to come at the end of such a process and such decisions would now be rather counterproductive,” the spokesperson said during a press conference, Reuters reports.
Germany’s move sets it at odds with other countries including Australia, United Kingdom, France and Canada that have rushed to recognise a Palestinian state under different conditions, drawing praise from the Hamas terrorist group.
As Breitbart News reported, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has already delivered a blunt rejection of international two-state solution pressure.
He told a delegation of American journalists earlier this month, “a Palestinian state in the heart of Israel would indeed be a solution—for those who seek to eliminate us” and would simply reward Hamas terrorists with exactly what they seek.
Sa’ar further suggested Western nations advocating for Palestinian statehood should “establish it on their own territory” instead.
He warned that “Establishing a Palestinian state within the ’67 borders, with its capital in East Jerusalem—a short distance from here—would put Israel’s population centers in grave danger, and would push Israel to borders that cannot be defended.”
The foreign minister’s stark assessment comes as mounting international pressure from European allies continues to advocate for Palestinian state recognition in the wake of the October 7 Hamas terrorist massacre.
In Israel itself, Israeli support for a two-state solution, in which a Palestinian state would be established alongside Israel, has fallen to an all-time low of 21 percent in a recent Pew survey that showed support for the idea at 50 percent as recently as 2013.
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