Ottawa is consulting with like-minded countries about recognizing a Palestinian state, a government official told a committee of parliamentarians Thursday afternoon considering the quickest path to such a declaration.
“We are taking notes, talking to each other and weighing things up as a group of very like-minded countries,” said Alexandre Rebeck, assistant secretary for Europe, the Middle East and the Arctic.
Leveque did not name the country in question, citing the sensitivity of diplomatic conversations.
“Many of our like-minded people are struggling with the same concept and pondering when is the right time to recognize a Palestinian state,” he said.
The motion proposed by Liberal MPs in September and considered by a committee is controversial. Initially discussed only in private, MPs earlier this week heard from regional groups with diametrically opposed views on whether Canada should immediately move forward with recognition of a Palestinian state.
Liberals break with Canadian tradition
Successive Canadian governments have argued for decades that recognition of a Palestinian state should only occur after a peace agreement is reached between the Israeli government and the Palestinian leadership.
Last May, the Liberal Party broke with that tradition. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared that Canada could recognize Palestine before peace negotiations are concluded. To facilitate two-state solutionssaid Israel’s closing of the door to Gaza was “unacceptable” and criticized Hamas’ control of Gaza as a “terrorist organization”.
This came after Canada abstained from voting “no” at the United Nations to establish a Palestinian state, a longstanding foreign policy of the country.
While the NDP continues to push for immediate recognition, Israeli statistics show the Conservatives believe the policy change will inform Hamas, which killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in an Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. It is claimed that there is.
Conservative foreign affairs commentator Michael Chong also cited the fact that neither the United States nor other G7 members have yet recognized Palestine.
“What are the fallout?” Chong asked about Canada moving forward with recognition without waiting for other allies.
Leveque said it would be too speculative to address this, but said the issue was “very active” in countries such as France, the UK, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
“Obviously we don’t know what kind of conversations are going on among the transition team that is being formed in Washington,” he said, alluding to President Donald Trump’s reelection and the next administration.
No Legal Barriers to Recognition: Government Lawyers
Lawyers for the Canadian government also told the committee there were no legal obstacles to approval, making it a purely political decision.
“Based on custom, based on customary international law, standards exist and it is entirely possible for governments to make assessments based on those standards,” said Louis Martin Aume, a legal adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ta.
Ohmy also said that “the decision to recognize a new state is a deliberate political act by other states.”
On Tuesday, two Jewish community advocacy groups, the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs and B’nai Brith Canada, warned the committee against recognizing Canada, citing the risk of rewarding Hamas and the lack of Palestinian national institutions. did.
Other groups, including Independent Jewish Voices, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, and the Canadian Federation of Palestinian Organizations, say Canadian government recognition paves the way to an end to the conflict and hopes that Ottawa will end their demands. claimed to be useful. considered complicit in the Israeli occupation.
Continued Israeli attacks on the enclave have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians since last year, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
