By Jamie Shapiro
Copyright thejc
US President Donald Trump has said he disagreed with Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state – which the PM is due to do within days. Trump, who is currently in the UK on his second state visit, met Starmer today at the Prime Minister’s residence at Chequers. At the news conference which followed their meeting, when asked about the recognition, Trump said: “I have a disagreement with the prime minister on that… One of our few disagreements.” Trump has remained unwavering in his refusal to follow the lead of the UK as well as many other countries that have all pledged to recognise Palestine as a state by or at the UN General Assembly next week. Regarding the 48 hostages, Trump said: “Not one, not two or ‘We’ll give you three tomorrow’. “We have to have the hostages back immediately. “That’s what the people of Israel want. And we want the fighting to stop, and it’s going to stop.” He continued: “We’re working very hard on Israel and Gaza and all that’s happening over there – a complex one… It’s going to get done… But you never know with war. War is a different thing. Things happen that are very opposite of what you thought. You thought you could have an easy time or a hard time, and it turns out to be the reverse.” At the news conference, Starmer was asked if recognising a Palestinian state was a symbolic move for political purposes. He replied that Trump and he “absolutely agree on the need for peace and a road map”. He added: “It’s within that context of a plan for peace, which we are working hard on… which hopefully takes us from the appalling situation we’re in now to the outcome of a safe and secure Israel, which we do not have, and a viable Palestinian state.” Starmer is expected to formally announce the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state this weekend after Trump’s departure later today. The Times has reported that Starmer was holding the announcement to avoid the news dominating today’s news conference. His decision to wait until Trump leaves has been criticised by Labour backbencher Rosena Allin-Khan, who has called on the prime minister to make discussing the situation in Gaza with Trump a “top priority”. Jewish community organisations including the UK’s Board of Deputies (BoD) and its counterparts in Australia and Canada issued a joint statement saying: “We are gravely concerned that our governments’ announced intentions to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN this month are seen by Hamas as a reward for its violence and rejectionism towards Israel, and these announcements have therefore lessened rather than maximised pressure for the hostages’ release and for Hamas to disarm.”
