95bFM Will New Zealand recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly?
25 September, 2025
Interview by Alex Fox, adapted by Soeun Kim
The University of Otago’s Robert Patman says the Government's lack of an indication regarding recognising a Palestinian state is due to the impact of the Trump Administration and the views of the different parties within the coalition.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is currently in the US, having headed to the nation for the 80th UN General Assembly.
The topic of the meeting is to discuss a two-state solution between Israel, and Palestine and will include a debate on the recognition of a Palestinian state.
So far, 157 of 193 UN countries have formally recognised the state of Palestine, with 10 having formally recognised Palestine during this current General Assembly.
However, the Government has yet to indicate where New Zealand stands.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon recently told RNZ’s Morning Report that the decision is “not a race”.
Robert Patman, a Professor of International Relations at the University of Otago, told 95bFM’s The Wire that despite the recognition of Palestinian statehood being mostly “symbolic,” this recognition has practical implications.
“... if we wait till Hamas is defeated, by that time, many countries believe that Israel would be in full possession of the disputed territories, and therefore, there'd be no actual geographical space for a Palestinian state given the publicly expressed intentions of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu].
“Netanyahu has never wanted a Palestinian state. He broke with the Oslo Accord back in the early 90s, and since the mid-90s has basically campaigned against a Palestinian state.”
He believes a large part of why the Government has yet to indicate their plans to recognise a Palestinian state is due to the US.
“New Zealand is feeling quite vulnerable after the tariffs that we received from the United States, a 10% tariff, and then that was boosted to a 15% tariff.
“I think from the Government's point of view, one of the advantages of keeping any decision under wraps until the last moment is that it prevents the United States from expressing its public displeasure.”
Patman also believes parties in the coalition have played a role in the delayed response regarding the country’s recognition of a Palestinian state.
“By keeping this decision under wraps, although [ACT Party Leader David Seymour] has spoken out about it, [by keeping] this decision under wraps, it avoids opening up what could be a damaging debate within the Government before they're in a position to formalise the decision.”
Patman says that Israel’s belief that recognising a Palestinian state rewards Hamas is “wrong”.
“I think what these countries are doing is signifying disapproval of Netanyahu's Government's refusal to acknowledge the Palestinian right of political self-determination.”
He says the crisis in Gaza extends to the “heart of our identity”.
“This country was founded in the Treaty of Waitangi, which was a cooperation between the Indigenous people and the European settlers, and while we haven't always implemented the treaty as fully as we probably could, nevertheless, that is the vision and the aspirations behind it.
“It seems to me that given our core national interests are at stake, I would have thought the Government could have been a bit more robust earlier.”
