At least 11 progressive House Democrats, including Rep. Ro Khanna (Calif.), have signed on to a letter calling for the U.S. to recognize a Palestinian state in the wake of moves by several American allies to do so before the United Nations convenes in September.
“Recognizing a Palestinian state is an idea whose time has come. The response of my colleagues has been overwhelming,” Khanna wrote on social platform X. “We will build support and release prior to the UN convening.”
The letter was first reported by Jewish Insider. In the same post, Khanna charged that someone had leaked the letter to the paper in order to “sabotage” the effort.
Signatories, Jewish Insider reported, include Texas Democrats Reps. Greg Casar, Veronica Escobar, Lloyd Doggett and Al Green, alongside Reps. Mark Pocan (Wis.), Jared Huffman (Calif.) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.). Prominent progressive Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Maxwell Frost (Fla.) also signed on.
Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.), the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, has also signed the letter, Khanna’s office confirmed to The Hill.
The letter follows announcements from France, Canada and the United Kingdom that they would move toward recognizing a Palestinian state. France plans to do so at the U.N. summit in September, while Canada said recognition was contingent on demilitarization and holding democratic elections without Hamas. The U.K. plans to recognize a Palestinian state in September if a ceasefire is not reached by then.
The moves by the members of the Group of Seven are largely symbolic, but they signal growing diplomatic pressure on Israel over a worsening hunger and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
A draft of the letter from Democratic lawmakers circulated July 31 states that recognition by the U.S. — an unlikely prospect regardless — would be contingent on a Palestinian state recognizing Israel and adopting “a framework to guarantee Israel’s security, including the disarmament of and relinquishing of power by Hamas.”
“We believe recognizing Palestinian statehood and obligating Palestinian leaders to abide by the international law binding on states and their governments will make that far more achievable and sustainable than decades of statelessness and repression have,” the draft letter reads.
The Palestinian Authority is an observer state at the United Nations, meaning it cannot vote. The Vatican holds the same status.
There have been efforts to make the Palestinian Authority a full member state, which requires the assent of the U.N. Security Council, where the U.S. holds veto power, alongside a two-thirds vote from the U.N. general assembly. The United States blocked a move for full Palestinian membership in April 2024.
