Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper urged Israel’s Prime Minister not to retaliate for the statehood push by annexing more of the West Bank – after the UK and other Western allies mounted a coordinated effort to back Palestinian statehood
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu today vowed retaliation after a push by Western nations – inlacing the UK – to recognise Palestinian statehood.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, in New York today for the United Nations General Assembly, warned Israel not to expand settlements in the West Bank in response to the move.
The Foreign Secretary insisted the decision to recognise Palestine was aimed at increasing security by keeping the prospect of a two-state solution alive.
The UK, Canada, Australia and Portugal took the largely symbolic step of recognising Palestine on Sunday.
But Mr Netanyahu, also at the UN today, responded angrily ahead of a second round of recognitions expected at the General Assembly today.
“A Palestinian state will not be established,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement last night.
“The response to the latest attempt to impose on us a terror state in the heart of our land will be given after my return from the United States.”
The statement went on: “I have a clear message to those leaders who recognise a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre of October 7: You are granting a huge reward to terror.
“And I have another message for you: It will not happen. There will not be a Palestinian state west of the Jordan.”
President Emmanuel Macron is expected to confirm France will recognise Palestinian Statehood at a high-level confrnce he is co-hosting with Saudi Arabia at the UN this afternoon.
In response to concerns Israel could respond by speeding up settlement of the West Bank, part of the occupied territory which would form a Palestinian state, Ms Cooper said: “We have been clear, and I have been clear to the Israeli foreign minister, we have been clear to the Israeli government, that they must not do that.”
She told the BBC : “We have been clear that this decision that we are taking is about the best way to respect the security for Israel as well as the security for Palestinians.
“It’s about protecting peace and justice and crucially security for the Middle East and we will continue to work with everyone across the region in order to be able to do that.”
The UK will use the UN General Assembly to push for international backing of a framework for peace in the Middle East, following its recognition of a Palestinian state.
Ms Cooper will seek to strengthen “the international consensus on our pathway for peace in the Middle East”.
Ms Cooper will also attend a Security Council meeting on threats to global security this morning – which is expected to focus on Russia’s incursions into the airspace of NATO allies in recent weeks.
Volodymyr Zelensky is also expected to attend, and Ms Cooper will reaffirm the UK’s commitment to Ukraine’s security.
Ahead of the General Assembly, Ms Cooper said: “At this moment of intense global instability and conflict, UK diplomacy and leadership has never been more important. Innocent civilians are suffering in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. Countries worldwide are dealing with high levels of migration including displaced and trafficked people. And climate change is not just a future threat to our survival, but a source of chaos and suffering across every continent today.
“This week at the UN General Assembly we will be pursuing progress across all those challenges, in particular by strengthening the international consensus on our pathway for peace in the Middle East, and our coalition against Russian aggression in Ukraine. And I am personally determined to build support for unified action on two crises that too many countries are dealing with in isolation: the scourge of organised immigration crime; and the global pandemic of violence against women and girls.
“We cannot only face the effects of global challenges when they arrive on our doorstep. As Foreign Secretary, I know that it’s only by being a proactive partner for progress and peace abroad that we will achieve security and prosperity at home. From security to economic development, global action at the UN will make a direct contribution to the priorities we are delivering in the UK.”