France and UK recognise Palestine, yes from over 150 countries

Shake-up and clash at the UN over Palestine, on the day of the General Assembly in New York, where a dozen countries - with Paris in the lead - formally announced recognition at the High Level Conference on the two-state solution, convened by France and Saudi Arabia. The reaction of the US and Israel was harsh.

Leading the 'diplomatic push' for the recognition of Palestine is Emmanuel Macron, the first to announce the Paris breakthrough a few weeks ago. He was followed closely by other important Western countries, such as Great Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal, which anticipated the announcement on Sunday, while in the last few hours the list has lengthened further: in addition to France, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand and San Marino. Italy and Germany are missing from the list.

Sweden was the first EU country to take this step, in 2014, at the height of months of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem. The State of Palestine had already been recognised in 1998, following the declaration of independence proclaimed by the then PLO leader Yasser Arafat, by Cyprus (which later joined the EU in 2004) and by a number of countries of the Soviet bloc now in the Union: Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the then Czechoslovakia, later divided into Slovakia and the Czech Republic. With the end of the USSR, Prague and Budapest took a step backwards, but both capitals still host a Palestinian embassy. The decision by Paris and London sparked similar controversy to last year, when recognition came from Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and Norway (which is not part of the EU). Following the United Kingdom and France, Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Malta and San Marino also decided to recognise Palestine at the UN Assembly in New York. As for Italy, it believes that this solution should be reached through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in the perspective of two states.

Almost all of Asia, Africa and Latin America formally recognise the Palestinian state. But Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand who have ventilated the possibility of recognising Palestine but have not taken the step. With the UN Assembly, Australia and Canada are also added to the list. Algeria was the first country, in 1988 minutes after Arafat's declaration, followed closely by many others: most of the Arab world, India, Turkey, several African countries, as well as China and Russia, which was still the Soviet Union. In 2011, Moscow, with the then Kremlin tenant Dmitry Medvedev, confirmed the recognition. In 2010-2011, a number of South American countries joined in, including Argentina, Brazil and Chile. In November 2012, the Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at the United Nations in New York, after the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to upgrade the Palestinians' status to 'non-member observer state'. Last year, the Assembly passed a resolution stating that Palestine is "qualified to become a member state" with 143 votes in favour, 25 abstentions (including Italy) and nine against, including the US. Washington, like Rome, nevertheless maintains diplomatic relations with the Palestinian National Authority.