August 29th, 2025 –
Partners for Progressive Israel applauds the diplomatic initiative taken by the governments of France and Saudi Arabia to jumpstart movement towards achieving, at long last, a two-state-based resolution for Israel and Palestine. The initiative has already been endorsed by the European Union and the Arab League, as well as other nations, including the United Kingdom and Canada, Egypt and Jordan. France and Saudi Arabia are currently collecting letters of support from additional nations ahead of the September convening of the United Nations General Assembly, where additional action steps are planned. The U.S., notably, has thus far refused to take part; Israel’s anti-two-state Netanyahu government, unsurprisingly, has condemned it.
The two sponsoring countries hosted a high-level international conference at the United Nations on July 28-30. The conference produced a set of specific guidelines, known as the “New York Declaration,” for facilitating progress toward the two-state solution.
We positively cite that document’s condemnation of Hamas’ October 7 attack, its demand that Hamas free all the Israeli hostages, and its call for Hamas to “end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority … in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State” that adheres to the PLO’s international commitments. We similarly cite its condemnation of Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law and its rejection of “all settlement, land grabs and annexation activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem” as well as “any actions leading to territorial or demographic changes, including forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population.”
Another important component of the New York Declaration is its support for the recognition of the State of Palestine, especially at a time when Israel is taking actions explicitly designed to “bury” (as the Israeli Finance Minister recently boasted), the two-state solution. We praise the pending recognition of Palestine, which will apparently be made official in September, by Security Council members France and the United Kingdom, G7 member Canada, and G20 member Australia.
As our executive director, Rabbi Margo Hughes-Robinson, stated in May 2024, “Recognition of a Palestinian state is neither a condemnation of Israel, nor a ‘reward’ for Hamas after the terror attacks of October 7th. Rather, this is a recognition of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, and a historic step towards a political solution for peace for all Israelis and Palestinians: one marked by diplomacy and lasting security instead of an ongoing war that has been characterized by mass death and human rights abuses.”
We call on the United States administration not only to join the French-Saudi initiative, but to “assume leadership of it,” as former Israeli Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon recently wrote, together with Gilead Sher and Orni Petruschka. They stress: “The recognition of Palestine, joined by other major Western actors, could mark a turning point in offering a constructive roadmap for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
The eliminationist positions espoused and actions taken by both Hamas and by Israel’s government have gravely impaired the ability of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples to return, devoid of outside assistance, to a path of negotiation based on mutual recognition and the right to equal measures of freedom, safety and security, self-determination, prosperity and dignity. It is incumbent upon the international community, therefore, to catalyze and chaperone a renewed process, one that includes “concrete measures” that will help dissuade either side from taking actions that “undermine the viability of the two State-solution.”
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