Hadash-Ta’al MK Aida Touma-Sliman hosted on Tuesday a conference in Israel’s Knesset titled “Recognizing the State of Palestine: Why Now?” in which members of her party and the second Israeli-Arab party, Ra'am, called on Israeli leadership to recognize a sovereign State of Palestine.
All of Hadash-Ta’al’s MKs participated in the conference, as did MK Iman Hatib-Yassin from Ra’am. Other participants included Hadash secretary-general Amjad Shavita, former Hadash MK Dov Hanin, and other Jewish and Arab peace activists and diplomats.Touma-Sliman said at the start of the conference, “Despite the feeling that we are living in the darkest period in the history of the area, and trust in our ability to head in a direction of hope when peace is at its lowest point, we are here to recall that human history teaches that the worst wars and conflicts ended in difficult negotiations that led to political agreements. In our case, this needs to be the path as well.”
International support for Palestinian statehood
The conference came after Norway, Ireland, and Spain recently recognized Palestine as an independent state – Slovenia’s parliament is in the process of doing so – and after the issue of Palestinian statehood arose in proposals by the US administration to end the war in Gaza and move towards the normalization of diplomatic ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
ouma-Sliman, as well as the other MKs, stressed in their remarks what they saw as the importance of holding the conference in the Knesset, and argued that only recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel will lead to lasting peace for both peoples.
Ta'al chairman MK Ahmad Tibi said such a conference should have been held “every day since the start of the occupation.” Tibi claimed that since October 7, none of the non-Arab parties said the words “Palestinian State,” and National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz never said the words, period. Tibi also said that in the current Israeli government, there were no ministers who regarded the Palestinians as a people, let alone the right of the Palestinian people to an independent state.Despite the recognition of 143 UN member states, the US only paid lip service to the concept of the two-state solution, but de facto has used its veto power to prevent this, Tibi claimed, adding that recognizing Israel’s right to a state but refusing to recognize the same for Palestinians served as support for “Jewish supremacy.”Prof. Emeritus Menachem Klein of Bar-Ilan University said, “The state of Israel does not to be the state of Jewish supremacy, and the state of Palestine does not need to be subject to it. The states need to be equal partners. Only equality can promise our future here.”At one point, MKs Tally Gotliv (Likud) and Tzvi Sukkot (Religious Zionist Party) entered the conference room and began shouting at the participants. Gotliv accused them of “supporting terror during war,” and called them “dangerous enemies.” Touma-Sliman said afterward that the disruption represented the “fascism” that she faced daily in the Knesset.