Three other European states officially recognize Palestine as a state. Historian Mendel believes that Germany should also set an example.
Flag without a state: People stand behind a large Palestinian flag in Khan Yunis in October 2022 Photo: Ashraf Amra/APA/dpa
taz: Norway, Spain and Ireland have Palestine on Tuesday recognized as a state. What does the trio want to achieve with this?
Meron Mendel: This is a symbolic step intended to increase pressure on the Israeli government under Netanyahu. This should have happened a long time ago, because not only since October 7, but for much longer, the government has shown no interest in a peace process.
The German-Israeli is an educationalist, historian and journalist. Since 2010 he has been director of the Anne Frank Educational Center in Frankfurt and Kassel.
So they see recognition as a punishment Netanyahu government?
This is the wrong framework. International relations is about creating incentives. The recognition is an attempt to build pressure to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and to use the current low point to kick-start a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
However, Norway, Spain and Ireland have not asked for anything in return from the Palestinian side. Would it not be politically wiser to work towards a process in which states such as Saudi Arabia maintain the prospect of recognition of Israel, but in which the Palestinians also commit to serious negotiations?
With recognition you don’t give everything away. It is a response to Netanyahu, who always wanted to prevent a Palestinian state by strengthening Hamas as a counterbalance to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Conversely, the recognition of Palestine as a state strengthens the PA.
You could also say that Hamas is for her carnage is rewarded. Without October 7, no recognition would have taken place.
No, she won’t. Hamas is not the representative of the Palestinian state. Palestine is represented by the PA. Strengthening the PA is anything but a reward for Hamas. I remember the images from 2006, when Hamas terrorists threw PA Palestinians from high-rise buildings.
However, Hamas welcomed the recognition.
Of course, she tries to see it as her achievement. But we cannot measure every international development by what Hamas says or how Netanyahu responds to it. The question is: how can we create incentives to strengthen the forces willing to compromise on both sides?
The Arab states on Monday called on other EU countries to follow the trio’s example. The Saudi Foreign Minister argued that Israel must accept that it cannot exist without a Palestinian state. Should Germany also recognize Palestine?
I don’t need the Saudis to take this exact position. Germany and the entire EU must send a clear signal that Netanyahu’s strategy is not working and that a Palestinian state, promised back in the 1990s, is inevitable.
Are you just asking for it or do you expect it?
Today we are witnessing an escalation in Rafah, and it seems to me that the Israeli government is unmoved by the international pressure. If Netanyahu continues this policy, it cannot be ruled out that other countries will consider the recognition of Palestine as necessary.
Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and others recognized Palestine decades ago. Why is Western Europe hesitating?
This has to do with the Eastern Bloc. In 1988, the Soviet Union also recognized Palestine. While most Western and Northern European states followed the American line of only recognizing Palestine as part of a conflict resolution, the assumption was that Israelis and Palestinians would sooner or later resolve their conflict.
The Europeans are now once again playing a role as mediators in the Middle East, also with a view to being a mediator Trump’s renewed presidency in America? During his time in office, he made the US unreliable by taking a completely one-sided pro-Israel position.
Trump would make the situation even more hopeless. The role of the US as a driving force for a constructive solution is virtually irreplaceable. The Europeans are weakened by the fact that very different positions exist in the EU, from Orbán in Hungary, who is positioning himself as a key Netanyahu supporter, to Spain and Ireland. There are three actors who can only pull the cart out of the mud if they work together: the Americans, hopefully under Biden, the EU, which will hopefully overcome its divisions to some extent, and the Sunni Arab states. Only if the three work together to create a counterbalance to Iran and Russia can an end to the war and a move toward a solution to the conflict in the Middle East be conceivable.