UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron recently expressed the possibility of recognizing a Palestinian state, while Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that this is no longer on the table. The Israeli leader insists on maintaining control of security between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean, effectively ruling out the prospect of a sovereign Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The United Kingdom and the United States have been urging Israel to uphold a two-state solution based on the Oslo Accords’ principles, which were signed in 1993. Cameron emphasized that recognizing Palestine might create an “irreversible” process, giving the Palestinian people a much-needed “political horizon.”
Historically, the Oslo peace process aimed to establish a Palestinian Authority with political power in the West Bank and Gaza, ultimately leading to statehood. However, setbacks such as the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the rise of Hamas in Gaza have disrupted this path.
Netanyahu argues that a Palestinian state “endangers the state of Israel,” rejecting attempts to “coerce” his country. The Labour Party had previously expressed support for recognizing Palestine, but tensions arose following a conflict initiated by Hamas in October 2023. Despite previous leaders’ support of the Palestinian cause, current Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer has been more hesitant to criticize Israel .
Cameron reiterated Britain’s commitment to a two-state solution during a meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem, emphasizing the need to establish what a Palestinian state would entail and how it would function. He also emphasized the importance of preventing the conflict from spilling over borders and causing wider regional conflict.
Recent events, such as a fatal drone strike on a US military base in Jordan and subsequent speculation about whether Iran-backed militants were targeting Israel, signal the potential for wider conflict in the region. Many fear that extremist elements in Iran hope to trigger a broader conflict involving Israel.