World Bulletin/News Desk

Pressure is building among EU member states for action by the European Commission on the recognition of a Palestinian state, a political analyst reported this week.

"European states are fed up after years of investing in a two-state solution that Netanyahu has energetically, almost zealously, been undermining," writes Chris Doyle, director of the London-based Council for Arab-British Understanding, in a recent article.

Doyle notes that the new EU Foreign Policy Chief, Federica Mogherini, has said that she wants a Palestinian state during her five-year term of office.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Monday it had obtained an internal EU document that proposed sanctions against Israeli politicians opposing the two-state solution and actions against European countries working in Israeli settlements.

"A large number of member states had pushed for this," Doyle notes, citing European diplomatic sources.

However, Mogherini told reporters on Monday that the EU had no intention of imposing sanctions on Israel even if it blocks the two-state solution with Palestine.

"It certainly was not on the ministers' table today and it was not at the heart of today's discussion," Mogherini said. "There was certainly no question of isolating or sanctioning anybody, rather how can we re-motivate people to get into a dialogue again, how to start a positive process with the Israelis and Palestinians to re-launch a peace process."

But EU states are taking action on their own.

Sweden’s recognition of the Palestinian state on Oct. 30 was followed by Spanish lawmakers adopting a motion on Nov. 18, calling on the Spanish government to do the same.

Swedish foreign minister Margor Wallstrom said in a statement on Oct. 30 that Palestine fulfilled the criteria for recognition as a state in international law despite it not having fixed borders.

Wallstrom said: ''There is a territory, there is also a population. There is also a government with the opportunity to exhibit internal and external control."

French media also reported in early November that French socialist lawmakers were preparing a parliamentary motion, calling for the recognition of the Palestinian state.