U.S. Warns UK, France Against Recognizing Palestinian Statehood Ahead of UN Conference
by Worthy News Jerusalem Bureau Staff
(Worthy News) – The United States has issued a stark warning to its key allies, the United Kingdom and France, against unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state during a high-stakes United Nations conference set for June 17 in New York, Middle East Eye reported Tuesday.
The conference, co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, aims to revive the long-stalled two-state solution. However, diplomatic sources say France is preparing to move ahead with recognition of Palestinian statehood regardless of broader international consensus, pressuring Britain to join and setting the stage for a potentially seismic shift in Western policy.
French media reports suggest that Paris believes it has tacit agreement from the British government, though UK officials remain publicly cautious. Foreign Secretary David Lammy has stated that London would recognize Palestine only when a viable path to a two-state solution is clearly in view. “We won’t act unilaterally,” Lammy said Monday.
Yet pressure is growing within Lammy’s Labour Party. MP Uma Kumaran, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, reminded the public that the new government was elected on a platform pledging recognition of Palestine as a step toward lasting peace. “We must act on our promises,” she stated.
Observers say the move could trigger what has been described as a “political earthquake” within the G7. No G7 nation has yet taken the step of recognizing Palestine, making any shift by the UK or France highly consequential, especially given their deep historical and diplomatic ties to Israel.
Israel has expressed sharp opposition to the prospect. Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer warned last week that recognition could prompt unilateral Israeli annexations in parts of the West Bank. “Such a step would not bring peace, but rather inflame tensions,” he told Haaretz.
Meanwhile, Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, criticized the Biden administration’s interference. “There is no legal or moral justification for the United States to intervene in a sovereign decision like recognition,” Doyle said, before acknowledging the unpredictability of U.S. President Donald Trump on the issue. “Trump’s position on Palestinian recognition could shift dramatically depending on negotiations or events on the ground.”
As the June 17 conference nears, the question of Palestinian statehood has become a fault line among Western powers. With France signaling determination and Arab states measuring the summit’s success by recognition outcomes, pressure is mounting on Britain—and on Washington—to clarify their positions before the diplomatic dominoes begin to fall.
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