It was a historic moment. It was a strong and substantial move. But it simply wasn’t enough.
Standing in Downing Street today, Keir Starmer looked directly down the barrel of the camera as he made his statement. Each word seemed to hang with the weight he put on it. It was an extraordinary commitment. “I can confirm that the UK will recognise the state of Palestine by the UN General Assembly in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to ceasefire, and commits to a long-term sustainable peace.”
Starmer had previously said that he would recognise Palestine when it might have the most impact on the efforts for a two-state solution. Today, he argued that the moment had come, not because they were on the verge of achieving it, but because the chances of it ever happening felt as if they were about to disappear.
Perhaps that’s true. Or perhaps Starmer was influenced by French President Emmanuel Macron, who announced recognition last week, or by threats from his own MPs, who have become exasperated by the caution of his administration on the issue.
This is part of a long road for UK policy towards Israel over the course of the war. The hard left considers the Government uncomplicatedly pro-Israel. Zarah Sultana, who is starting a new left-wing political party with Jeremy Corbyn, said last week that Starmer “should be on trial at the Hague”. But in fact Labour has taken a much tougher stance on Israel than the Conservative government which preceded it.
It indicated that it would uphold an international arrest warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant. It limited arms shipments to Israel. And it placed sanctions on two ministers – Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. Now it is clearly hoping to leverage the threat of recognising a Palestinian state to force Israel to alleviate conditions in Gaza and commit to progress on a ceasefire and political settlement.
Starmer’s message to Hamas was equally robust. It had to release all the hostages and, more importantly, extract itself from any future government of Gaza. This last part is the crucial element, which complicates every attempt to solve the problem.
The problem with talk about recognising Palestine is that it simply isn’t clear exactly what it is you would be recognising. The West Bank, under the governance of the Palestinian Authority, has no working relationship with Gaza, under the governance of Hamas. There is no coherent singular body to recognise.
This issue has bedevilled efforts for years and become particularly acute since the October 2023 attacks. The government in Gaza cannot involve Hamas. But the alternative to Hamas cannot come from Israel or it will never have legitimacy in the eyes of Palestinians, nor can it simply be imposed from above by Western powers.
The Starmer approach is rational, well-meaning, legalistic and pragmatic. It is particularly commendable that he announced it after meeting Donald Trump, who may well have demanded that he refrain from doing it.
But it is simply not enough. For nearly two years now, Israel has blockaded or limited supplies – from food to medicine to electricity – putting thousands of children at risk of starvation. Those who desperately try to secure food are often shot at. Barely a night passes without news of the latest death toll. Most of Gaza has been levelled, making it unlivable.
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Much of the debate online is about whether the Israeli government is committing genocide. This seems a pointless distraction when it is undoubtedly committing ethnic cleansing: the active clearance of a group from a designated geographic area in order to create ethnic homogeneity.
That is the consequence of Trump’s statement last February, when he said: “You’re talking about probably a million-and-a-half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’”
It is the consequence of Netanyahu’s statement when he said he was working to make this plan “a reality”. And it is the consequence of the various statements of Israeli government officials, like finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said: “Gaza will be entirely destroyed.” or heritage minister Amichay Eliyahu, who said that “the government is racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out”.
Netanyahu distanced himself from that last statement but it was entirely in line with the repeated actions of his government. Even recent suggestions of a humanitarian city in Rafah have led former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert to warn the idea is akin to a concentration camp.
In that context, it is simply not enough to provide cautious roadmaps to peace. We need even tougher measures, which are commensurate with the scale of the atrocity we are witnessing. If Britain is in the business of discouraging the Israeli government, then it should bring its full arsenal to bear when doing so.
This would entail a halt to all arms sales and military co-ordination. It would involve wide-ranging sanctions – not just on individual ministers but the country in general. It would necessitate a suspension of the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement. And most importantly, it would involve pressure on the EU to follow suit, so that Israel loses access to its largest export destination.
This is the kind of situation which is so severe that countries must do whatever they can to save lives. Today’s announcement was principled and historic. But in a situation this grave, it simply is not enough.
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