What countries recognize Palestine internationally and what is the United States’ position?

In 1947 the United Nations General Assembly approved a plan for the partition of Palestine. This recommended the creation of an independent Arab State as well as a neighbouring Jewish State. One year later, Israel proclaimed its independence coinciding with the end of the British Mandate over Palestine and its Arab neighbours attacked.

Palestine striving for UN recognition

This war, that ended in 1949, let to the signing of an armistice between Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan and Syria, as well as the size of Israel growing by a quarter and then controlling three-quarters of Palestine proper.

After several decades of confrontations between both parties, the 1993 Oslo Accords came close to a lasting peace. It was a series of peace agreements between both Israel and Palestine with the aim of reaching an agreement to seek a definitive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Palestine recognized Israel as a country and disarmed, though Israel refused to do the same.

Palestine has fought for its right to exist at the UN with partial success. Of the 193 member states of the United Nations, 142 (74%) recognize Palestine as a country, growing by three in the month of May 2024.

The above map shows how things looked before recent announcements.

Without diplomatic recognition, Palestine is isolated from international organisations and diplomacy, making it challenging to participate in international agreements.

Norway, Spain and Ireland to recognize Palestine as a country

On Wednesday, Norway announced that it will recognise an independent Palestinian state in the hope that this will help to bring peace with Israel. This came in a joint statement that included Ireland and Spain. European Union members Slovenia and Malta have also indicated in recent weeks that they plan to make the recognition, arguing a two-state solution is essential for lasting peace in the region.

USA still doesn’t recognize Palestine

The United States continue to be one of the countries, along with neighbors Mexico and Canada, that does not recognise Palestine. It has the full recognition of all the countries of South and Central America, with the exception of Panama.

Among other countries that do not recognize Palestine as a state are France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark, Croatia, Latvia, Moldova and Estonia. Other European countries such as Germany, Portugal, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Lithuania and Slovenia do not officially recognize Palestine but do have diplomatic offices there.

Palestine does have the recognition, however, of European countries such as Iceland, Sweden, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Albania, as well as the three recently announced who will do so officially in the coming days. The state is also recognized by Russia.

In Oceania Palestine does not have international recognition, while across Asia only Japan and South Korea have refused to recognize the nation. Despite this, both Asian countries have diplomatic institutions in Palestinian territory. China, India, Indonesia and the rest of the Asian countries do recognize Palestine as a country. In Africa, the only ones that do not recognize Palestine are Cameroon and Eritrea.