JERUSALEM – David Bedein, a long-time Israel commentator, sets out seven questions he says should be put to the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, Norway, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand before those countries recognize a planned Palestinian state.
At the top of Bedeinโs list is whether a future Palestinian state will abolish clauses in its Basic Law that make Arabic and Islam official and name Islamic law as a major source of legislation. The Basic Law text reads in Article 5 that โArabic and Islam are the official Palestinian language and religion.โ Article 7 says, โThe principles of Islamic Shariโa are a major source for legislation.โ
Bedein and other critics say those provisions raise concrete questions about the juridical status of Jews and Christians, and about whether the law would allow equal civil status and full religious freedom for non Muslims. The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs has highlighted the precarious position of Christians in Palestinian-administered areas and warned of legal and social pressures that have reduced Christian communities.
A second set of questions concerns official policies and educational materials. Bedein asks whether Palestinian authorities will remove texts and curricula that glorify violence against Jews or that praise attackers. Multiple investigations and reports over the years have documented problematic passages in some Palestinian textbooks and media that officials and outside monitors have criticized. Foreign ministries should demand timelines and mechanisms for concrete curricular reform, Bedein says.
Bedein also urges ministers to demand that a new Palestinian state repeal laws or practices that pay stipends to prisoners and attackers. The Palestinian Authorityโs so-called Martyrs Fund provides payments to families of prisoners and those convicted of attacks in Israeli courts. United States and other government briefings have repeatedly cited the program as an obstacle to normalizing relations and to peace negotiations.
Other practical questions Bedein says deserve answers are whether maps issued by a future Palestinian state will show Israel as a sovereign neighbor, whether the slogan of a โright of return through armed struggleโ will be officially repudiated, and whether the stateโs constitution will enshrine Koranic Sharia as the basis for civil and criminal law. He argues that failing to extract clear commitments on these points risks recognizing an entity that will institutionalize hostility toward Israel and imperil religious minorities.
Bedein cites a 2003 warning by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, then the Vatican nuncio to Jerusalem, who told visiting U.S. lawmakers that the draft Palestinian Basic Law provided no juridical status for religions other than Islam. The archbishop urged care in how international aid and legal frameworks were used in drafting constitutional arrangements.
Supporters of recognition argue that recognition can be paired with conditions and that engagement provides leverage to press for reforms. Experts note that many Western recognitions include diplomatic language setting expectations for human rights and renunciation of terrorism. Still, Bedein and allied analysts say those assurances are insufficient without legally binding changes and visible, verifiable reforms on the ground.
For governments considering recognition, Bedein calls for a simple test. He says foreign ministers must obtain written, public commitments on the Basic Law, education, the Martyrs Fund, public rhetoric, and maps before extending formal recognition. He says that without such proof, the international community risks legitimizing structures that, in his view, would undermine Jewish security and religious equality in the region.
This article is based on verified information from JNS and David Bedeinโs analysis, the 2003 Palestinian Basic Law (English text), the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, the U.S. congressional record, and government briefings on Palestinian payments to prisoners, and reporting on Vatican statements regarding the Palestinian constitution.