By Itamar Eichner
Copyright ynetnews
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will announce at the weekend that the United Kingdom will recognize a Palestinian state — shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump, who opposes the move, leaves the country. According to a report published Wednesday evening, Starmer delayed the announcement until after Trump’s departure out of concern the issue might dominate a joint news conference the two will hold tomorrow. An official British declaration of recognition, if it comes, is expected to prompt other countries to announce similar moves. In late July, Starmer told his cabinet that the U.K. would recognize a Palestinian state in September, ahead of the U.N. General Assembly, “unless the government of Israel takes concrete steps to end the horrific situation in Gaza.” According to a statement from Downing Street at the time, “Starmer committed to carry out an assessment ahead of Sept. 9, before the U.N. General Assembly, of the extent to which Israel has taken the necessary steps, before making a final decision.” In presenting the ultimatum to his cabinet, Starmer said he was acting to “protect the viability of the two-state solution.” If Starmer does formally announce recognition of a Palestinian state, he would join countries that have said they will do so at the upcoming U.N. gathering, including France, Australia and New Zealand. After Starmer announced at the end of July that he intended to carry out the move, a British source said Starmer informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his intentions even before making his statement. Against that background, a senior Israeli political official said the British announcement was expected. “Huge political pressure was applied to the British. This is a Labour government. Macron has already broken the dam,” the official said. “This is a bad declaration that sends the wrong message to Hamas not to agree to a deal.” The Foreign Ministry at the time attacked the British government: “Israel rejects the announcement of the prime minister of Britain. The change in the position of the British government at this time, following the French move and internal political pressures, constitutes a reward to Hamas.” On Friday, the U.N. General Assembly approved the declaration initiated by France and Saudi Arabia calling for support for a two-state solution — by a vote of 142 in favor, 10 against and 12 abstentions. The “New York Declaration” refers to a plan for resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and was approved as part of the New York conference held in July, presenting an action document intended by its sponsors to chart an “irreversible” path to establishing a Palestinian state.
