LONDON: The UK could expedite recognition of a Palestinian state in a bid to bring peace to the region, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has said.
Ahead of a visit to the Middle East, he told a reception held by the Conservative Middle East Council in Westminster that the Palestinian people need to see “irreversible progress” toward a two-state solution.
“As that happens, we — with allies — will look at the issue of recognizing a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations,” he told attendees. “That could be one of the things that helps to make this process irreversible.”
He added, though, that recognition would require a new Palestinian government with “technocratic and good leaders” to be “stood up quickly” to bring order to the Gaza Strip.
Cameron, though, hinted that the UK and others could press ahead regardless of Israel’s stance.
“Together with that, almost most important of all, is to give the Palestinian people a political horizon so that they can see that there’s going to be irreversible progress to a two-state solution and crucially the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he said.
“We have a responsibility there because we should be starting to set out what a Palestinian state would look like, what it would comprise, how it would work and crucially, looking at the issue.”
Progress would be dependent on Hamas releasing all hostages held in Gaza, a guarantee not to attack Israel, and the group’s leadership leaving the Palestinian enclave, Cameron said, adding that it would be “difficult” to achieve but that he remains “hopeful.”
He told the meeting: “There’s a path that we can now see opening up where we really can make progress, not just in ending the conflict, but progress in finding a political solution that can mean peace for years rather than peace for months.”
Cameron added: “That’s the prize we should be looking for, and more than that, not just how you go from pause to sustainable ceasefire, but how you go from there to a set of political moves and arrangements that could start to deliver the longer-term political solution.”
He criticized Israel for failing to provide security to its citizens and for preventing British aid from reaching people in Gaza.
“If the last 30 years tells us anything, it’s a story of failure,” he said. “Ultimately it’s a story of failure for Israel because yes, they had a growing economy, yes they had rising living standards, yes they invested in defense and security and walls and the rest of it, but they couldn’t provide what a state most wants, what every family wants, which is security.
“And so the last 30 years has been a failure, and it’s only by recognizing that failure and recognizing that true peace and progress will come when the benefits of peace and progress are greater than the benefits of returning to fighting.”
