Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Keir Starmer in his statement after this afternoon's cabinet meeting said Britain "will recognise the state of Palestine in September", but then said "unless..."

That was followed by a list of unrealistic demands of the Israeli government, including a commitment to a two-state solution to which Benjamin Netanyahu will not agree. 

Recognition did not seem conditional upon the demands made of Hamas, on the other hand, namely to release the remaining hostages and to disarm. 

So recognition is going ahead, it would seem, in a big change to longstanding British policy, which was that it should happen at a time when it strengthens a nascent Palestinian state and rewards it for compromising with Israel. Donald Macintyre outlines the history here. 

Starmer said that the change had come about because of the "increasingly intolerable" situation in Gaza: in other words, it is a symbolic gesture designed to put diplomatic pressure on Netanyahu. To which Netanyahu's response can readily be imagined.  

Written by John Rentoul

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