Benjamin Netanyahu says announcement rewards ‘Hamas’s monstrous terrorism’ as Starmer says UK could recognise statehood in September

Thornberry also denied the suggestion that the UK is “irrelevant” and said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu “completely lost it” overnight after Keir Starmer’s statement.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the chair of the foreign affairs committee was asked whether the UK is irrelevant if it makes demands of Israel that are then ignored.

No, we are not irrelevant.

If we were completely irrelevant why has Netanyahu completely lost it overnight?

It’s not exactly a considered, diplomatic, careful statement ... it’s a furious statement.

We are long-term allies, we remain long-term allies, but not with this far-right government, not with the way that it is behaving.

It’s great news. I’m so pleased that we finally got there.

This is a major change in British foreign policy, and it’s absolutely the right thing to do.

Because what we’ve been doing until now is sitting close to the Americans and hoping that somehow or other there will be a peace process, and in the middle of that, we will be able to recognise Palestine.

We have to, I think, get onto the front foot and I think what we need to be doing is exactly what the Government has decided they’re going to do, which is to kickstart a process.

Source: Guardian - World News