Last week, a historic international conference took place in New York, initiated by France and Saudi Arabia, with the goal of advancing a gradual framework toward a comprehensive political agreement based on the two-state solution.
Ahead of and during the conference, France announced its intention to recognize a Palestinian state during the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York this September. Other countries joined the initiative and similarly declared their intention to recognize a Palestinian state at that time.
The Israeli government rushed to present this move as a “reward for terror,” as if it were fulfilling Hamas’s dream. However, this is a critical mistake – factually, politically, and from a security standpoint.
The important strategic potential
It is this same government that, for nearly two decades, has deliberately weakened the Palestinian Authority and empowered Hamas, based on a distorted notion that “Hamas is an asset,” one that would help block the creation of a Palestinian state.
Much of the Israeli media echoed these same tired messages, without having read the actual statements, without understanding their real implications, and above all, without asking the most essential question: Could this, in fact, be an opportunity?
These declarations, which trigger automatic anxiety in Israel, actually carry important strategic potential: an attempt to craft a responsible diplomatic framework that weakens Hamas, strengthens moderate forces, and enables the renewal of a political process based on the principles of peace, democracy, freedom, and security for both peoples.
In the statements released before, during, and after the New York conference, it was emphasized that recognition of a Palestinian state would take place as part of a gradual process, one that would include disarming Hamas, transferring control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, establishing clear timelines, and ensuring regional and international guarantees to support a genuine political process and long-term security for both sides. These are all clearly in Israel’s best interest.
For many years – and especially these past couple – the Israeli government has consistently refused to engage in any serious political process. Under various governments, particularly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Israel advanced the concept of “conflict management” – a concept that blew up in our faces and led us to the horrors of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the following long, painful war that the government still refuses to end.
A chance for real peace
It is precisely into this vacuum that international initiatives are now stepping. If Israel acts wisely, it will not reject these declarations as anti-Israel moves, but will see them as a chance to restart a process that could bring real security, end the war, free the hostages, and rebuild Israel’s relationships with its international partners.
This doesn’t mean a Palestinian state will be established tomorrow. It does mean that meaningful negotiations could begin, for the first time in years.
For such a process to succeed, it must include civil society. That is why, alongside the New York conference, meetings were also held between the foreign ministers of France, Germany, the UK, and other international representatives, and Israeli and Palestinian civil society leaders.
In those meetings, we demanded what we know to be essential: the full inclusion of civil society representatives at every stage of the process.
We, who work on the ground across the country, who engage daily with Palestinian women, who know the pain and the hopes, the fears and the dreams of communities on both sides – we must be there. With our grounded, human, and courageous presence, the chances of success and a lasting peace agreement rise dramatically. This is our responsibility.
The Israeli government can continue to fear recognition of a Palestinian state, or it can choose to embrace this opportunity. We are at a critical moment. As more and more countries reach out for peace, Israel must not be the one to turn its back.
The writer is the co-director of Women Wage Peace.