As the United Nations General Assembly opens in New York this week, the debate over Palestinian statehood has taken center stage. France and several other countries are preparing to formally recognize a Palestinian state, following a wave of symbolic endorsements from Western allies that has provoked strong opposition from Israel. He added that France would make the release of Israeli hostages captured by Hamas a condition for opening an embassy to a Palestinian state. The gathering will be dominated by the question of Palestinian statehood, alongside other crises including the war in Ukraine, Iran’s nuclear program, and Russian airspace violations. He has repeatedly opposed Palestinian recognition and has dismissed Abbas’s Palestinian Authority as an unsuitable partner for peace.