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The United Kingdom would consider recognizing a Palestinian state, Foreign Minister David Cameron told Arab ambassadors

Yossi Lempkowicz

British Foreign Minister David Cameron argued that the Biden administration was in a completely different position than the U.K. “For them, it’s not a matter of principle, they are a massive state supplier of weaponry, they are involved in the IDF tactical and strategic thinking. It’s a totally different situation.”

According to Jewish News, Downing Street had not given sign off to Cameron’s remarks.

At the same time, according to a report in Axios, the U.S. State Department is said to be reviewing options for possible recognition of a Palestinian state.

The United Kingdom would consider recognizing a Palestinian state to create “irreversible progress” toward an end to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, British Foreign Minister David Cameron told a reception for Arab ambassadors in London. 

“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,” Cameron said.

“As that happens, we, with allies, will look at the issue of recognizing a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations. This could be one of the things that helps to make this process irreversible.”

 The former Prime Minister, who became Foreign Minister last year in the government led by Rishi Sunak, said the move could bring about “irreversible progress to a two-state solution.”

“We should be starting to set out what a Palestinian state would look like – what it would comprise, how it would work,” he said in remarks to the Conservative Middle East Council in the House of Commons on Monday night.

According to Jewish News, Downing Street had not given sign off to Cameron’s remarks because the Foreign Secretary’s speech was deemed not to be a formal one.

Lord Cameron’s words have sparked a backlash from some Tory MPs. Advancing the recognition of a Palestinian state would be like “rewarding Hamas’s atrocities,” said Theresa Villiers, a parliamentarian and former cabinet minister during Cameron’s tenure as prime minister from 2010 to 2016.

Sir Michael Ellis, another member of Parliament, echoed those sentiments, cautioning that such a move could equip “dangerous actors” with the capabilities of a state.

Addressing the House of Commons on Tuesday, Andrew Mitchell, a minister of state in the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, clarified that there has been no change in U.K. policy and emphasized the need to offer a credible route to a Palestinian state when the timing is right.

“There is no question of rewarding Hamas for the appalling acts they perpetrated” in Israel on Oct. 7, Mitchell said.

U.S. State Department reviewing options to possible recognition of a Palestinian state ? 

At the same time, according to a report in Axios, the U.S. State Department is said to be reviewing options for possible recognition of a Palestinian state.

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has asked the State Department to concudct a review and present options on possible U.S. and international recognition of a Palestinian state after the war in Gaza, according to Axios quoting two US. Officials.

While U.S. officials say there has been no policy change, the fact that the State Department is even considering such options signals a shift in thinking within the Biden administration on possible Palestinian statehood recognition, wrote Axios.

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