Did Britain bow to Israeli threats not to recognise Palestinian state?
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy made a startling claim in parliament on Tuesday.
Speaking before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, which scrutinises foreign policy, Lammy said that Israel had annexed land in the occupied West Bank in response to the movement for recognising Palestinian statehood.
He cited this as a reason why he opposes the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
"Despite the recognition movement, actually what we've seen is further annexation on the West Bank," Lammy told the committee. "It has not led to us getting closer to a process.
"It's led to further annexation."
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The Israeli government has recently threatened Britain and France, who were rumoured in May to be gearing up to unilaterally recognise Palestinian statehood, with steps in the West Bank.
'It's led to further annexation'
- British Foreign Secretary David Lammy
In late May, Ron Dermer, Israel's strategic affairs minister, warned the two countries, Israel's historic allies, that Israel would annex parts of the West Bank if they recognised a Palestinian state.
Dermer, appointed in February to head Israel's Gaza ceasefire negotiation team, reportedly made the threat in a conversation with France's foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot.
Haaretz, quoting an unnamed diplomat, reported on Monday that Dermer threatened that Israel could legalise unauthorised settler outposts in the West Bank and annex parts of Area C.
And Gideon Saar, the Israeli foreign minister, reportedly warned his British and French counterparts that Israel could take unilateral action if Britain and France made the move.
The British foreign secretary's recent comments suggest that Israel's threat didn't fall on deaf ears.
Macron urges recognition
On Tuesday afternoon, Lammy refused to set a timeframe for Britain recognising a Palestinian state and even criticised the idea of unilaterally recognition rather than as part of a "peace process".
"I say, for the United Kingdom, particularly if you look at the history," Lammy told the committee, "our relationship with the two communities that were brought together in the birth of the Israeli state - I would prefer it if it was part of a process."
He added that "alongside French and Saudi colleagues, we are discussing recognition, but my indication and my instinct is I actually want things to change the situation on the ground."
Lammy's French colleagues do not appear to be on the same page as him.
Just hours after Lammy's appearance before the committee, French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the British parliament and urged British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to recognise Palestinian statehood.
He said that "today, working together in order to recognise the state of Palestine and to initiate this political momentum is the only path to peace."
Last month, France was preparing to unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state at a major UN conference on the two-state solution beginning on 17 June in New York, which it was set to co-host with Saudi Arabia. At the time, sources told Middle East Eye the proposed move had "unsettled" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
MEE understands that France was lobbying Britain to recognise a Palestinian state at the conference alongside it.
But in late May, the US privately warned Paris and London against unilaterally recognising Palestine, sources with knowledge of the matter in the British Foreign Office told MEE.
Shortly afterwards, both countries reportedly decided against recognising Palestine. The planned UN conference was then postponed in mid-June amid hostilities between Israel and Iran.
If France and Britain recognised a Palestinian state, they would become the first G7 nations to do so and it would likely cause a political earthquake.
Relations between Britain and Israel continue to deteriorate, with Lammy saying on Tuesday that the Israeli government's plans to build a camp in Gaza where it would concentrate the Strip's entire population would be a “sticking point” in ceasefire negotiations.
But the Labour government has consistently resisted calls to impose a full arms embargo on Israel.
Asked by the select committee why Britain continues to supply Israel with F-35 fighter jet parts, Lammy said that suspending their export would "bring down F-35s in other spheres of conflict". Raising his voice slightly, he urged the committee to "press me on our obligations to Ukraine and other conflicts around the world".
Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord interjected and pointed out that the F-35 "isn't being used in Ukraine, the F-22 is being used in Ukraine", in an awkward moment for Lammy.
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