Human face on foreign policy
For most Filipinos raised on the Catholic faith, Israel has always been regarded as a nation of God’s “chosen people,” the multitude led out of the desert by Moses, and for whom the Red Sea parted so they could reach the Promised Land. That the Nazi regime exterminated millions of Jews during World War II only firmed up sympathy for Israel whose people, through Britain’s Balfour Declaration, were eventually settled in Palestine in 1948.
Today, Israel has become a pariah in many parts of the world, given its relentless military campaign, territorial occupation, and displacement of Palestinians decades before the indefensible October 2025 attack and hostage-taking by the Hamas, a militant political faction in Palestine.
On Sept. 24, the Philippines joined a mass walkout during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly to express solidarity for peace in the Middle East and support for a two-state solution in the conflict.
What prompted this surprising stance was Israel’s approval last year of a major settlement project in the West Bank, where it plans to build around 1,200 homes on land it calls E1, or East 1, to expand its Ma’ale Adumim settlement. Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967, are illegal under international law.
Two-state solution
The settlement plan is seen as further displacing Palestinians and splitting the West Bank into two to ensure, in Netanyahu’s words at the signing ceremony of the controversial plan, that “there [would] be no Palestinian state to the west of the Jordan River.”
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that “The Philippines views these actions, which may contravene international law, as detrimental to finding a just, lasting, and comprehensive solution to the Middle East conflict…”
It added that “the Philippines remains resolute in upholding the fundamental and legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, in particular the right to self-determination.”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro, in her speech at the 81st UN General Assembly on Sept. 26, said: “We firmly believe that the two-state solution remains the only viable path to lasting and durable peace, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security, and all others respecting their peaceful coexistence.”
It is the same position contained in the UN resolution that was supported by 142 nations, but opposed by 10 countries including Israel and the United States. Twelve countries abstained.
A principled stand
For most Filipinos, the DFA action may seem far removed from their more immediate reality of rising gas prices, soaring inflation, and even the political intramurals leading up to the 2028 elections. It may even be seen as being unnecessary antagonistic toward Israel, which hosts over 30,000 overseas Filipino workers, some 80 percent of whom are caregivers.
Recall however how the Philippines has always supported the Jews, even sheltering thousands of them when they fled Nazi persecution in Europe between 1934 and 1940 under Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon.
Calling out Israel for its latest plan to erase Palestine altogether is thus not an issue of disloyalty to a host country, but a principled stand to uphold international law and a rules-based order as the way to settle disputes and geopolitical conflicts that affect global economy.
“We cannot continue down fragmented paths in an interconnected world,” Lazaro said, pointing out that wars, particularly those in the Middle East and Ukraine, have affected gas and food supply.
The Philippines “stands firm in its conviction that disputes must be resolved through diplomacy and law, not violence and might,” Lazaro said, citing the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award as an example of how international law can provide peaceful mechanisms for clarifying rights and resolving conflicts.
Act of solidarity
While China has rejected the arbitral award and continues its aggressive maneuvers in the West Philippine Sea, the landmark ruling has been used by other countries to pursue their own territorial claims, proof that a rules-based order can produce results without unnecessary strife.
Further, the country’s act of solidarity to support Palestine despite the contrary stance of the US, its traditional ally, also signals a welcome shift to a more independent nonaligned foreign policy that would better serve Philippine interests.
Hopefully, such resolve to pursue a sovereign stand would apply as well to other issues, including the contentious Pax Silica project that the US has been pushing despite valid questions on its viability and impact on the environment, the country’s limited resources, and the possible displacement of Filipino farmers and indigenous folk.
As Lazaro herself reiterated: “Above all, you must always put a face to what we do, remembering that every policy, every treaty, and every institutional reform is ultimately about real human lives.”
