Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine joined 12 Democratic colleagues in the U.S. House urging President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to recognize a Palestinian state, a move they argue is necessary to protect both Palestine and Israel, which have been embroiled in conflict since a Hamas terrorist attack nearly two years ago.
A letter drafted this week, led by Rep. Ro Khanna of California, comes as several U.S. allies have said they plan to recognize a Palestinian state in response to reports of widespread starvation in Gaza. France, Canada and the United Kingdom have each pledged to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly next month.
Just last week, Trump said that such a recognition would be “rewarding Hamas.” He has previously floated the idea of turning the Gaza Strip into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
But Trump, who has been closely aligned with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also recently broke with Israel by acknowledging the starvation and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, something Israel has denied.
Pingree has been a vocal critic of Israel’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack. In a statement Wednesday, she said that that the U.S. should join allies and the 147 U.N. members that recognize a Palestinian state, as long as certain conditions are met, including working with the Palestinian Authority, the official governing body, rather than Hamas.
“This recognition must come with ironclad security guarantees, and a clear commitment to disarming extremist groups like Hamas — which is critical for Israel to survive as a democratic state,” said Pingree, who has represented Maine’s 1st District since 2009. “The Israeli and Palestinian peoples deserve a future where all hostages are safely returned, humanitarian aid can reach those in need, and the cycle of violence ends. A two-state solution must remain the goal.
“The United States has an opportunity to show real leadership and diplomacy by recognizing Palestinian statehood as a crucial step toward a just and lasting peace.”
A spokesperson for Rep. Jared Golden said the Democrat who represents Maine’s 2nd District would not be signing the letter.
“The Congressman believes that the Israeli and Palestinian people must be the ones to determine how to resolve their differences and establish a viable path forward to a sustainable peace,” the spokesperson said.
In the 21 months since the Hamas attack, more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, nearly half of them women and children, Gaza’s Health Ministry said last month. The response from Israel has destroyed large portions of Gaza, displacing 90% of the population there and fueling a humanitarian crisis that has worsened in recent months as aid has been blocked or delayed.
Other longtime supporters of Israel have ramped up criticism in recent weeks. Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said last month he will no longer vote in support of providing military aid to Israel.
King’s office did not respond to a question about whether the U.S. should join allies and recognize a Palestinian state next month. Instead, they pointed to comments King made in an interview with CNN last week that “there has to be a Palestinian state (and) that’s the only thing that’s going to resolve this.”
“Now the difficulty is, who might be their future leaders?” King sad. “If Netanyahu decided tomorrow to recognize a Palestinian state, it’s unclear who would be the leadership of that state. Certainly it wouldn’t be Hamas. Would it be the Palestinian Authority? They don’t have a great deal of political support. So that’s a problem, but I think the concept of a Palestinian state is important, otherwise Israel is going to be doomed to a perennial guerrilla war, such as has been going on off and on for the past 50 years.”
Republican Sen. Susan Collins did not say whether the U.S. should recognize a Palestinian state. Instead, Collins stressed the need to expand humanitarian assistance — essential food, water and medical supplies — to the “innocent people in need, especially the children and families.”
“But the fastest and simplest way to do this would be for the terrorist group Hamas to return the hostages and to agree to a ceasefire of the war that Hamas started with its massacre of men, women, and children on October 7, 2023,” Collins said in a written statement. “The United States, alongside the international community, must steadfastly pursue a lasting peace that will benefit the entire region, including families in Gaza and Israel. Hamas and other terrorist organizations must stop their attacks against the Israeli people and recognize Israel’s right to exist.”
A draft of the recent letter signed by Pingree and others notes that previous administrations and the international community have held that a Palestinian state is “necessary to fulfill the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people and ensure the state of Israel’s survival as the democratic homeland of the Jewish people.”
The letter cites the urgency of the recognition, since some Israeli leaders are eying annexing part of Gaza. It also notes Israel’s opposition to Palestinian statehood.
“With such an outcome opposed by the current Israeli government and actively undermined by its accelerating annexation campaign in the West Bank – as well as open calls by Israeli ministers to annex much if not all of Gaza – meaningful action is necessary to bolster the legitimacy of Palestinian statehood,” they wrote.
Last week, Secretary of State Rubio criticized U.S. allies for saying they will recognize statehood if Israel doesn’t improve humanitarian conditions on the ground before September, saying it creates an incentive for Hamas to not agree to a ceasefire.
