French Parliament votes to recognise Palestine as a state Tuesday Dec 02,2014

 

France's lower house of Parliament voted today 339 votes to 151 to urge the government to recognise a Palestinian state. 

The vote is non-binding. Instead it is seen as a symbol of hope for the Palestinians, as support grows in Europe for two states.

It comes after Sweden became the biggest Western European country to recognise Palestine, and parliaments in Spain, Britain and Ireland also backed non-binding recognition resolutions 

In October 2014 Sweden's government became the first western European nation in the EU to recognise Palestinian statehood. 

 France - which has western Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish populations, and has seen tensions erupt between them - has sought to keep good ties with Israeli and Palestinian authorities in recent years

 

Israel's ambassador to France spoke out against the proposed resolution last week, saying it was destructive for the peace effort.

 

In a statement today the Israeli embassy in Paris said: 'Israel believes that the vote in the National Assembly... will reduce the possibility of achieving a deal between Israel and the Palestinians.'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the French vote a 'grave mistake'

 

Israel has furiously warned that the French parliament's vote in favour of recognising Palestine as a state will 'harm the peace process'

 

Israel is committed to the establishment of a Palestinian state under a peace agreement, but says such resolutions encourage the Palestinians to avoid negotiations