The West's Growing Support for Palestinian Statehood Will Have Limited Concrete Impacts

Western countries' growing recognition of Palestinian statehood is largely symbolic and will likely galvanize Israel's push for West Bank annexation, risking further Israeli isolation abroad and sporadic violence at home. Ahead of the start of the high-level debate at the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 21-22, several Western countries -- including Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom -- recognized Palestinian statehood. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called their decisions ''a huge reward to terrorism,'' a sentiment echoed by other senior Israeli officials and U.S. President Donald Trump. Following the series of new recognitions, approximately 80% of U.N. member countries recognize Palestinian statehood....