As geopolitical conversations intensify over recognition of a Palestinian state, Rabbi Mark Goldfeder, CEO and director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, delivered a striking and unequivocal message to Newsmax on Thursday: doing so would be “simply immoral.”
Goldfeder rejected the notion that foreign governments should “give away other people’s land” during an appearance on a special edition of “Carl Higbie FRONTLINE” from Jerusalem. He emphasized that formal recognition would amount to rewarding Palestinian leadership for its support of terrorism.
“It is simply immoral to reward Palestinian leadership support of terror,” Goldfeder said, pointing to the Palestinian Authority’s ongoing “pay-for-slay” program, which provides financial incentives to terrorists targeting Israeli and American citizens. He noted that the PA even defended the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel by Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists.
Goldfeder called such leadership deeply unworthy of international legitimacy.
“So, this is the people they want to welcome into this circle,” he said.
Goldfeder dismissed the historical validity of a Palestinian state. He said although PA leaders have spoken aspirationally of future statehood, they have never recognized an existing Palestinian state. Moreover, he criticized contemporary moves in favor of Palestinian statehood as historically baseless.
Goldfeder pressed further into international law, invoking the Montevideo Convention’s criteria for statehood: a state must possess a defined territory, a permanent population, an effective government, and the capacity to enter into foreign relations.
“Palestine has exactly zero of these,” he said.
Legal analysts have likewise observed that attempts to grant recognition now inevitably bypass such fundamental thresholds. For instance, an editorial by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs said that recognition of a Palestinian state fails the statehood test and “does not meet” the standards set by international law.
Goldfeder also cited Article 4 of the United Nations charter, which requires that U.N. membership be open only to “peace-loving states” that accept its obligations.
“Any would be Palestinian state would be immediately disqualified just on those grounds,” he said.
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