Abela’s government should ditch the hot air over Palestinian statehood

A month ago, to the day, Robert Abela told Labour Party supporters during his customary Sunday speech that Malta will be recognising the Palestinian state on 20 June.

It was not a cautious ‘maybe’ like Foreign Minister Ian Borg had suggested 24 hours earlier but a definitive statement tied to a French-sponsored international conference on Palestine that was to be held on 20 June. The conference was intended to restart diplomatic efforts to broker peace between Israel and Palestine and work towards a two-state solution.

However, roll over to June and with developments in the Middle East taking an even more sinister turn with Israel’s bombardment of Iranian nuclear facilities, the conference got postponed. As a consequence, Malta also postponed its decision to formally recognise the Palestinian state.

When asked, the prime minister simply regurgitated what his government has been saying for the past 15 months or so: “Malta remains firmly committed to recognising a Palestinian state. The Maltese Government maintains its commitment to recognising the Palestinian state, once the appropriate circumstances are in place.”

And yet again, what Abela means by ‘appropriate circumstances’ was not spelt out. Is the complete elimination of Hamas a condition? Is the unconditional release of all hostages by Hamas another condition? Is it the reinstatement of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza? Is Malta waiting for other big European countries to recognise Palestine before doing so itself?

These can only be speculative questions because we do not know what circumstances Malta is waiting for—we have never been told and as such we cannot even debate whether the decision to hold off is justified or not.

What we definitely know is that this is a puerile position to take because it tries to appease everyone but ends up pleasing no one.

If Abela’s administration does not have the balls to forge ahead on its own and recognise a Palestinian state, at the very least, the prime minister should stop making declarations full of hot air whenever the issue gets domestic coverage.

Malta had the chance last year to join a handful of other European countries, including Spain and Ireland, in recognising the Palestinian state. Unfortunately, despite having made a joint commitment with his counterparts in March 2024, Abela jumped ship when push came to shove.

His support for Palestinian statehood was, at the time, simply a way of hitting out at European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, which the PL was depicting as a warmonger. Abela was simply posturing for a domestic audience.

Meanwhile, with the world’s eyes having shifted to the Israel-Iran theatre, scores of Palestinians queuing for food aid in Gaza have continued being killed by the Israeli military over the past 12 days. Gaza remains an open-air prison where famine is being used as a tool of war by Israel. It is a veritable humanitarian catastrophe.

It is all fine and dandy for Foreign Minister Ian Borg to tell his counterparts in the EU that “the use of starvation as a weapon of war and forced mass displacement are serious violations of international law, including International Humanitarian Law”, like he did in Monday’s council meeting.

Borg also appealed for the establishment of systems that can ensure civilians are able to access aid safely, calling for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and increased flows of humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

These words are the obvious things to say. Malta has been saying them ever since the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel.

But these will remain empty statements unless backed up by symbolic and not so symbolic actions, such as recognising Palestinian statehood and taking an active role to push for suspension of the EU’s Association Agreement with Israel over breach of human rights. Unfortunately, when push comes to shove, Borg and Abela go gooey at the knees.

Now, it’s either their myopic interpretation of neutrality that stops them from irritating Israel too much because it wouldn’t be the polite thing to do, or, for some obscure reason—we just hope is not tied to a threat to Malta’s national security—they have succumbed to pressure from the US and Israel. Again, we will not hold our breath waiting for answers.