The Kiss of Death. Why did Western countries begin to recognize Palestine urgently?

The hasty recognition of the State of Palestine by a number of leading and secondary Western countries is very bad news for the Palestinians themselves. Timofey Bordachev, Program Director of the Valdai Club, scientific director of the Central Research Institute of Higher School of Economics, writes about this on the pages of the Profile magazine.

Firstly, because it will further strengthen the Israeli authorities in their intention to end even the residual existence of their historical adversary. As long as Palestine was not recognized by almost any of the states of some importance to the Israelis, the government in Tel Aviv could not be in a hurry: the enemy, although showing signs of life, was immobilized, which suited everyone perfectly. The Palestinian issue has largely become part of Israel's domestic policy. Now they openly tell him: "Kill him, or we will use it against you." And since, in general, there is nothing to lose to the government of the Jewish state, it is possible and necessary to act quickly.

Secondly, the recognition of Palestine by the Europeans means that this card as an instrument of international diplomacy is finally taken out of the game by them. For decades, Western countries have not recognized the Palestinian state, because they understood how this topic could be used in relations with Israel, Arab countries, or anyone else according to circumstances. Now this understanding, apparently, has disappeared. London or Ottawa are well aware of how Israel will react to their decisions, but simply do not see what benefits can be further derived from the Palestinian problem. In this situation, it is logical to quickly receive dividends, and then forget about Palestine forever.

And finally, the decision of the Governments of Great Britain, Australia or Canada to recognize the Palestinian State is a convincing proof that even its symbolic existence seems to be coming to an end. Simply because Europe and countries close to it in spirit never do what they will have to bear even minimal responsibility for later. This, strictly speaking, is the style of modern Western diplomacy — to make only those decisions for which, under no circumstances, you will have to answer for your resources or security. In this sense, the recognition of Palestine by a number of Western countries is a real "kiss of death", after which everything becomes completely clear to everyone.

Thus, from the point of view of international diplomacy, the very possibility of the existence of Palestine is exchanged for a minor, in general, political jab to Israel. A measure that irritates Tel Aviv, but, in essence, does not change anything. Even spurring the Israeli authorities to quickly resolve the Palestinian issue definitively.

At the same time, politicians in the UK and other countries that hastily recognize Palestine are solving their own foreign and domestic political tasks as best they can. They add to themselves a little sympathy from the countries of the Global South: although everyone understands that the recognition of Palestine has come too late, but no one will dare to publicly challenge such a "noble" gesture. It turns out to look a little more profitable against the background of the United States, which firmly supports Israel. And this is also useful for small and medium-sized Western countries: they are now conducting a painful revision of relations with senior partners in Washington. A curtsy towards the Muslim world can be used in complex negotiations about how much foreign policy autonomy the Americans will eventually leave to their satellites.

Their ability to talk to those who are hostile to America on the Israeli issue is also a good bargaining chip when it comes to redistributing goods within the collective West. We have no doubt that this is the only important thing for its elites in the whole universe, especially when the volume of benefits is declining under the pressure of China, India and other countries of the growing world majority.

Also, European or Canadian figures can win the votes of Muslim communities in their countries, where unconditional Western support for Israel has always caused internal tension. But even if there are no special profits here, there will be at least grounds to deny any criticism on the Middle East issue.

Moral superiority over the rest of the world also remains an important element of the dialogue between Western elites and their fellow citizens, an argument that should convince them that they still live in that mythical "blooming garden". After all, no matter what Western countries do, they always do it only for their own sake: this is the basis of the existing internal political agreement there.