Canada plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly next month, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday, a major policy shift that drew an angry response from US President Donald Trump and was rejected by Israel.
Carney said the move was necessary to preserve hopes of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a long-standing Canadian goal that was “being eroded before our eyes.”
“Canada intends to recognize the State of Palestine at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025,” the prime minister said.
Photo: Reuters
That makes Canada — a G7 nation — the third country, following recent announcements by France and the UK, to signal plans to recognize a Palestinian state next month.
The worsening suffering of civilians in Gaza left “no room for delay in coordinated international action to support peace,” Carney said.
Israel blasted Canada’s announcement as part of a “distorted campaign of international pressure,” while Trump warned that trade negotiations with Ottawa might not proceed smoothly.
“Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform. “That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.”
Asked by reporters if there was a scenario where Canada could change its position before the UN meeting, Carney said that “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,” he said, referring to the body led by President Mahmoud Abbas, which has civil authority in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Carney said his plans were further predicated on Abbas’s pledge to “hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part, and to demilitarize the Palestinian state.”
Carney’s announcement has positioned Canada alongside France, after French President Emmanuel Macron said his country would formally recognize a Palestinian state during the UN meeting, the most powerful European nation to announce such a move.
The Israeli embassy in Ottawa said “recognizing a Palestinian state in the absence of accountable government, functioning institutions or benevolent leadership, rewards and legitimizes the monstrous barbarity of Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.”
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.”
Canada’s plan goes a step further than this week’s announcement by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said the UK would only formally recognize the State of Palestine if Israel fails to take “substantive steps,” including including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.
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 humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, Carney said.
He framed his decision as one aimed at safeguarding Israel’s future.
“Any path to lasting peace for Israel also requires a viable and stable Palestinian state, and one that recognizes Israel’s inalienable right to security and peace,” Carney said.
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