The Trump administration has warned nations attending the U.N. summit on Palestinian statehood scheduled for June 16-18 against taking anti-Israel actions, under the threat of diplomatic consequences, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The news agency said the United States warned in a cable to allies that countries making anti-Israel moves in the wake of the summit would be viewed as acting in opposition to U.S. foreign-policy interests.
“We are urging governments not to participate in the conference, which we view as counterproductive to ongoing, lifesaving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages,” the diplomatic cable reportedly read.
“The United States opposes any steps that would unilaterally recognise a conjectural Palestinian state, which adds significant legal and political obstacles to the eventual resolution of the conflict and could coerce Israel during a war, thereby supporting its enemies,” it stated.
Washington “opposes the implied support of the conference for potential actions including boycotts and sanctions on Israel as well as other punitive measures,” the missive continued.
JNS sought comment from the White House, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, but did not hear back by press time on Wednesday.
The upcoming conference, sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia, is set to focus on determining steps toward recognition of a Palestinian state.
The goal signals a retreat from the summit’s earlier ambition of seeing a large bloc of countries, including France and the United Kingdom, recognize a Palestinian state, The Guardian reported on June 7.
Macron claimed that recognizing “Palestine” was “not only a moral duty but a political necessity,” speaking during a press conference on May 30.
However, Anne-Claire Legendre, his adviser for North Africa and the Middle East, and Romaric Roignan, director for the region at the French Foreign Ministry, told Ynet that the recognition would not be unilateral.
“Recognition of a Palestinian state remains on the table, but not as a product of the conference. It will remain a bilateral matter between states,” they said this week.
Instead, it will be tied to certain conditions, including a truce in Gaza, the release of hostages, reform of the P.A., economic recovery and an end to Hamas’s terrorist rule in the Arab enclave, per The Guardian.
