What Starmer's plan for the UK to recognize a Palestinian state means
The U.K. followed France, which declared last week that it will recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
More than 140 countries have already taken that step, but France and Britain are significant as members of the Group of Seven and the U.N. Security Council. The two countries hope their bold – if largely symbolic – diplomatic moves will help add pressure on Israel to ease a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza and breathe life into a moribund peace process.
What Starmer said
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday that Britain will recognize a Palestinian state in September, 'unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution.'
He said that included 'allowing the U.N. to restart the supply of aid, and making clear there will be no annexations in the West Bank.″
Starmer also said Hamas must release all the hostages it holds, agree to a ceasefire, disarm and 'accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza' — though he did not make that a condition for recognition. Britain says that's because Hamas has no role in a two-state solution.
Britain felt it was now or never
Britain has for decades supported an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, but insisted recognition must come as part of a peace plan to achieve a two-state solution.
U.K. officials increasingly worry that such a solution is becoming all but impossible – not only because of the razing of Gaza and displacement of most of its population during 22 months of war, but because Israel's government is aggressively expanding settlements in the West Bank, land Palestinians want for their future state. Much of the world regards Israel's occupation of the West Bank as illegal.
'The moment to act is now,' Cabinet minister Heidi Alexander told Times Radio. 'There's the effective annexation of the West Bank happening.'
Starmer is also under mounting domestic pressure to do something as horror spreads at the scenes of hunger in Gaza.
More than 250 of the 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons signed a letter in recent days urging the British government to recognize a Palestinian state. Opinion polls suggest far more Britons support recognition than oppose it, though a large number are undecided.
Reaction is polarized
Israel quickly condemned the British move. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who rejects the two-state solution on both nationalistic and security grounds, said Starmer's announcement 'rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims.'
The families of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas were also critical.
'Recognizing a Palestinian state while 50 hostages remain trapped in Hamas tunnels amounts to rewarding terrorism,' said the Hostages Family Forum, which represents many hostages' relatives. Emily Damari, a British-Israeli national who was held captive for more than a year, called Starmer's stance 'a moral failure.'
The British statement was welcomed by the Palestinian Authority, which Britain views as a legitimate representative of Palestinians. It has limited autonomy in pockets of the occupied West Bank.
Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian Authority's envoy in London, said Britain's statement 'is a corrective to over a century of dispossession, during which the Palestinian people have been deprived of our land, liberty and lives.'
Limited influence, historical weight
In practice, Britain's influence on Israel is limited. The U.K. government has suspended free trade talks and halted some arms shipments to Israel over its conduct of the war, but is not a major economic or military partner.
History has, however, given Britain a particular interest and role in the Middle East.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Britain bears a 'special burden of responsibility' as the former governing power of what was then Palestine and author of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which backed the establishment of a Jewish homeland, but also pledged to protect the rights of the Palestinian population.
'This has not been upheld, and it is a historical injustice which continues to unfold,' Lammy said at the U.N. on Tuesday.
Most of Britain's main political parties support a two-state solution. But the right-of-center opposition Conservatives said Starmer's announcement was premature.
'Recognition of a Palestinian state is only meaningful if it is part of a formal peace process and cannot happen while hostages are still being held in terrorist captivity and while Hamas' reign of terror continues,' said Priti Patel, the party's foreign affairs spokeswoman.
Ed Davey, leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, welcomed Starmer's statement as a step forward but said the prime minister should not use Palestinian statehood as 'a bargaining chip.'
The move may spark diplomatic momentum
Britain and France hope other countries will follow their move. On Tuesday, European Union member Malta said it, too, would recognize a Palestinian state in September.
Germany, a major European power and strong ally of Israel, remains a holdout. Chancellor Friedrich Merz reiterated his country's position that recognition of a Palestinian state 'can be one of the last steps on the road to realizing a two-state solution,' but that Berlin has no plans for recognition 'in the short term.'
Real clout rests with the U.S., and Starmer's cautious approach may be designed to persuade President Donald Trump to take a tougher line with his ally Netanyahu. The prospects are uncertain, to say the least. Asked about Britain's stance on Tuesday, Trump said: 'We have no view on that.'
Yossi Mekelberg, a Middle East expert at international affairs think tank Chatham House, said there is 'no doubt' that a global majority supports Palestinian statehood, but that's not enough to make it a reality.
'British recognition or French recognition doesn't make it internationally recognized,' he said. 'You need the (U.N.) Security Council — and that is not going to happen because of a certain person in the White House.'
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