A coalition of Pacific civil society organisations is calling on Pacific Islands Forum leaders to suspend engagement with Israel, arguing that the partnership undermines the region’s commitment to international law, Palestinian self-determination and the declaration of the Blue Pacific as an Ocean of Peace.
The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations Alliance (PRNGO Alliance) said the decision to admit Israel as a Forum partner raised serious concerns about the region’s position on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
In a statement, the alliance said Pacific leaders could not rely on international law to defend their countries against climate change while disregarding international legal rulings on Palestine.
“The Pacific cannot invoke the Court for our islands and ignore it for Palestine,” the alliance said, referring to the International Court of Justice’s July 2024 advisory opinion that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful.
The court said Israel was obliged to end its unlawful presence as rapidly as possible. It also stated that other countries must not recognise the situation as lawful or provide aid or assistance in maintaining it.
The alliance said the Forum’s decision, announced by Israel, had not been accompanied by a public statement from the Forum Secretariat, which had already hosted a development cooperation Talanoa with Israel through its MASHAV programme.
While acknowledging Pacific countries’ need for support in areas such as water security, agriculture, food security and climate adaptation, the alliance questioned whether development cooperation should proceed without conditions relating to international law.
“We reject antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism, and mourn every civilian life lost, Israeli and Palestinian,” the statement said.
The organisations also raised concerns about Israel’s continued actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, citing United Nations humanitarian reporting on Palestinian deaths and displacement following the ceasefire announced in October 2025.
They argued that humanitarian assistance and development partnerships could not be separated from obligations to protect civilians and uphold international law.
The alliance also cited United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which states that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory have no legal validity, and Resolution 478, which called on states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from Jerusalem.
It questioned the decisions by Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Nauru to establish embassies in Jerusalem, noting that Samoa had also announced plans to follow.
The alliance said the partnership could have implications for the region’s security and political unity, particularly as Pacific leaders advance the Ocean of Peace declaration.
“In September 2025, our Leaders declared the Blue Pacific as an Ocean of Peace, grounded in the UN Charter and international law,” the statement said.
The organisations warned that expanded security cooperation, military technology and surveillance arrangements could conflict with the region’s stated opposition to militarisation and great-power rivalry.
“Pacific regionalism rests on solidarity based on shared values, not merely on shared resources,” the alliance said.
The statement also linked the issue to the Pacific’s continuing decolonisation agenda, including the struggles for self-determination in Kanaky New Caledonia, Ma’ohi Nui, Guahan and West Papua.
It said Forum leaders had repeatedly called for Indonesia to allow a visit by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua, but the visit had yet to take place.
The alliance warned that engaging with states accused of maintaining unlawful occupation without requiring accountability could weaken the principles underpinning Pacific self-determination.
The PRNGO Alliance has called on the Forum Troika, comprising Solomon Islands, Palau and New Zealand as past, current and incoming chairs, to ensure Pacific peoples are consulted before major partnership decisions are made in their name.
It also urged Forum leaders to review Israel’s partnership and suspend engagement until Israel complies with relevant International Court of Justice opinions and United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The alliance called on the Forum Secretariat to publish the basis for the decision and ensure any partnership agreement with Israel includes commitments to international law.
It further urged Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Nauru to return their embassies to Tel Aviv and called on all Forum members to ensure that cooperation on security, cyber capabilities and surveillance does not assist in maintaining the occupation.
The statement was endorsed by more than 20 Pacific civil society organisations, including the Pacific Conference of Churches, Pacific Islands Climate Action Network, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, Pacific Network on Globalisation, Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Oxfam in the Pacific.
Professor Vijay Naidu, a member of the Pacific Elders Voice, was among the individual endorsers.
The alliance said the credibility of Pacific regionalism depended on applying the same principles of justice, sovereignty and self-determination consistently to all countries.
“Partnership is measured by justice, not by favours,” the statement said.
