Recognising Palestine necessary to counter Israel, says Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday said that he had "no illusions" about the concrete impact that recognising the State of Palestine would have, but deemed it "necessary" to counter an Israeli government opposed to its existence.

"We are under no illusion that this is not a panacea," Carney said at a forum organized by an American think tank in New York, adding that he was aware that the recognition announcement would have a limited effect, especially in the face of outspoken opposition from Israel and the United States.

The Canadian Prime Minister, however, considered it "necessary" since the Palestinian people's capacity for "self-determination is being erased."

"While the declared policy of the Israeli government is that there will never be a Palestinian state, (...) what we are trying to achieve is to keep (the issue of Palestinian statehood) at the forefront," he explained.

"We are doing what we can, while recognizing the limits," added Mr. Carney, specifying that Canada wanted to see the emergence of a "Zionist Palestinian state" supporting Israel's right to exist.

Canada is among a group of Western countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and Portugal, that recognized the Palestinian state on Sunday, while Emmanuel Macron did so on Monday from the podium at the United Nations, at the opening of its annual General Assembly in New York.

- Reporting by AFP