US President Donald Trump has said it will be difficult to make a trade deal with Canada, after the country announced it is backing Palestinian statehood.
Canadian Prime Minster Mark Carney announced yesterday that Canada is planning to recognise the State of Palestine at a meeting of the United Nations in September.
Canada’s announcement follows France and Britain in recognising a Palestinian state. Portugal said today it would consider recognising a Palestinian state in September.
Ireland formally recognised the State of Palestine last year in what then taoiseach Simon Harris called “an act of powerful, political and symbolic value”.
Israel and its closest ally, the US, both rejected Mr Carney’s statements.
Canada to recognise state of Palestine in September
Canada and the US are working on negotiating a trade deal by 1 August, the date Mr Trump is threatening to impose a 35% tariff on all Canadian goods not covered by the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
Mr Carney said yesterday that tariff negotiations with President Trump’s administration have been constructive, but the talks may not conclude by the deadline.
Israel said Canada’s announcement was part of a ‘distorted campaign of international pressure’
Asked by reporters if there was a scenario where Canada could change its position before the UN meeting, Mr Carney said: “There’s a scenario (but) possibly one that I can’t imagine.”
Canada’s intention “is predicated on the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to much-needed reforms,” Mr Carney said, referring to the government body led by President Mahmud Abbas, which has civil authority in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Mr Carney also said it was also predicated on Mr Abbas’s pledge to “hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part, and to demilitarise the Palestinian state”.
Israel rejects move
With yesterday’s announcement, Mr Carney positioned Canada alongside France, after President Emmanuel Macron said his country would formally recognise a Palestinian state during the UN meeting, the most powerful European nation to announce such a move.
The Israeli embassy in Ottawa said “recognising a Palestinian state in the absence of accountable government, functioning institutions, or benevolent leadership, rewards and legitimises the monstrous barbarity of Hamas on 7 October 2023”.
Mr Abbas welcomed the announcement as a “historic” decision, while France said the countries would work together “to revive the prospect of peace in the region”.
Keir Starmer said the UK will formally recognise the State of Palestine in September unless Israel takes various ‘substantive steps’
Canada’s plan goes a step further than this week’s announcement by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Mr Starmer said the UK will formally recognise the State of Palestine in September unless Israel takes various “substantive steps,” including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Two-state solution
Mr Carney stressed that Canada has been an unwavering member of the group of nations that hoped a two-state solution “would be achieved as part of a peace process built around a negotiated settlement between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority”.
“Regrettably, this approach is no longer tenable,” he said.
The peace process has also been eroded by the expansion of Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, Mr Carney said.
The prime minister said a two-state solution was growing increasingly remote, with a vote in Israel’s parliament “calling for the annexation of the West Bank,” as well as Israel’s “ongoing failure” to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
