Kemi Badenoch, UK Conservative Party leader, has condemned the decision by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to formally recognise Palestinian statehood, stating that the action only rewards terrorism in the aftermath of the ‘October 7’ attack on Israel by Hamas.
“We will all rue the day this decision was made. Rewarding terrorism with no conditions whatsoever put in place for Hamas, Ms Badenoch said in a post on X. “It leaves hostages languishing in Gaza and does nothing to stop the suffering of innocent people caught in this war.”
Ms Badenoch’s statement followed the UK government’s announcement on Sunday of its official recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state, alongside France, Canada, Australia, and Portugal, marking a historic shift in their positions on the Israeli-Palestinian situation.
“Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine,” Mr Starmer said in a video statement on Sunday.
Expressing her displeasure, Ms Badenoch, who is a vocal supporter of Israel in their ongoing military campaign in Gaza, tagged the recognition as a misplaced priority that Mr Starmer and his ruling Labour Party are exploiting to cover up their incompetence.
“It is because Labour cannot fix the big problems in our society that they focus on discredited student union campaigns to appease the hard left. They cannot fix the NHS, so they push assisted suicide. They cannot create jobs for young people, so they give them votes at 16,” Ms Badenoch said.
She added, “They cannot sort out immigration, but they will recognise Palestine instead. This is the same man who paid £35bn of reparations to Mauritius along with the surrender of the Chagos islands.”
The landmark recognition of Palestinian sovereignty by five Western powerhouses came despite staunch opposition from the United States and Israel, who have since released statements condemning the move.
“I have a clear message to those leaders who recognise a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre of October 7: You are giving a huge reward to terrorism,”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “And I have another message for you: It will not happen. A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.”
The U.S. Mission to the United Nations noted that the Trump administration “stands with Israel in unequivocally rejecting any effort to unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state or impose conditions on Israel, which would be an unconscionable reward for the heinous Hamas attack on Israel that massacred and brutally kidnapped Israelis and Americans”.
