This annexation plan would leave Palestinians with nothing but six isolated enclaves that make up less than 18% of the West Bank. What the recognition doesThe recognition is a political act, and it has political implications. Finally, the recognition of a Palestinian state preemptively regards Israel’s planned annexation of the West Bank as illegitimate. What it doesn’t doHowever, this recognition does not imply any additional legal obligations on the part of the recognizing states to take action to ensure the establishment of the Palestinian state or to end the occupation of its territories. Yet these same countries have been dealing commercially with the Israeli state’s settlement economy for years, despite their existing obligations.