The UN High-Level conference originally planned in New York for 17-18 June was rescheduled to 28-29 July 2025, due to the escalation in the armed conflict between Iran and Israel. The event is intended to “facilitate” the establishment of a Palestinian state in the “occupied Palestinian Territories”(East Jerusalem, Gaza and Judea and Samaria).
The conference was called for by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and the process initiated by the two co-Chairs (France and Saudi Arabia). The leaders of both the co-Chair countries have since announced that they will not be attending the event and that it will now take place at ministerial level. The conference was also downgraded to a discussion preparatory to further discussion at the meeting of the UNGA in September 2025.
The United States is extremely critical of this French-Saudi initiative, regarding it as undermining efforts both to reach a solution to the Gaza conflict and an enduring solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The United States wrote to all UN member states in June urging them not to attend the meeting. Support for the conference has diminished.
This conference is a demonstration of unrealistic and counter-productive attempts to artificially and remotely construct a “State of Palestine” hostile to Israel without allowing Israel’s legitimate territorial and security rights to be accommodated. Thinc has previously posted a press release and an update on the conference. Relevant background reading includes the thinc book Two States for Two Peoples? The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, International Law and European Union Policy. Further information and insights will be posted by thinc. following the conference and prior to the UNGA meeting in September.
