The Italian parliament on Friday voted a motion presented by the Democratic Party (PD) of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi calling on the government to back the recognition of a ‘State of Palestine’.
The motion passed with 300 in favor, 45 against and 59 abstentions. The symbolic non-binding vote does not change the position of the Italian government which, like other European countries, still supports a negotiated two-state solution.
The text urges the government to support the establishment of a Palestinian state that ''lives in peace, security and prosperity alongside the state of Israel, on the basis of reciprocal recognition and a reciprocal commitment to ensure that citizens live safe from all violence and acts of terrorism''.
The motion is similar to the one put forth in Sweden – where the government formally recognized a Palestinian state last October, the only EU member state to have done it so far –, as well as in tnhe parliaments of France, Britain, Ireland, Portugal and Spain last year.