Will Labour recognise a Palestinian state?

Labour will reportedly include a pledge to recognise a Palestinian state in its election manifesto. 

Officially launched next Thursday, the manifesto is expected to commit a future Labour government to recognise Palestine "before the end of any peace process", said The Guardian.  It will also ensure such a move "does not get vetoed by a neighbouring country" – a likely reference to Israel, according to sources.

The "eye-catching commitment" is aimed at resolving the divisions within Labour. There have been "huge splits between its left and centre" over the war in Gaza, as well as concerns that Muslim voters are "turning their backs on the party", said The Independent.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

What did the commentators say?

Labour leader Keir Starmer has been "keen not to stray far from the support to Israel being shown by the British government and the US" since the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza, a position that has "caused fury on the Labour left", said The Guardian. 

But in recent weeks Labour has appeared "more willing" to depart from the government position, "including giving implicit support" for the decision by the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court to request an arrest warrant against Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Labour will be hoping that a position on Palestinian statehood will "help recover some ground" among Muslim and progressive voters. Party officials are worried that voters being disillusioned with Labour's foreign policy could mean they fail to win two urban constituencies in the upcoming general election – Bristol Central and Sheffield Hallam.

But it is not only these groups who care about human rights and "want Labour to change their stance on Israel's war", said Othman Moqbel, CEO of Action For Humanity, on Al Jazeera. A YouGov poll commissioned by Action For Humanity in April found that 56% of the UK public – and 71% of those who intend to vote Labour – support halting arms sales to Israel.

As the war continues to "cause catastrophe to civilians" in Gaza, it is "reasonable to expect more and more voters to move away from politicians who appear to support Israel's assault on Gaza". That means Gaza could become "an even bigger problem" for Labour in the coming months if its leadership "cannot reverse the widespread public perception that they are supportive of Israel's war on the Palestinian enclave".

If a policy of recognising Palestinian statehood was implemented, it would mean Britain being at odds with the United States, said Jake Wallis Simons, editor of The Jewish Chronicle, in The Telegraph. "But it would also sit at odds with reality," said Wallis. Palestinian society "must be deradicalised" before any lasting peace deal, and to achieve that will be the work of "generations". "No manifesto commitment can change that."

What next?

Some 139 countries currently recognise a Palestinian state, with Ireland, Norway and Spain most recently joining the list at the end of May. But many European nations, and the United States, say they will recognise a Palestinian state only as part of a long-term political solution to the conflict in the Middle East; this is often referred to as the "two-state solution". 

Despite coming with legal and symbolic advantages, recognition of a Palestinian state would be unlikely to "immediately change anything on the ground", said Deutsche Welle. 

"If you were to wave a magic wand and suddenly create recognition of a Palestinian state, there would still be enormous problems on the ground," Middle East analyst Philip Leech-Ngo told the site. "There's the occupation, there are the [illegal] settlements, the devastation in Gaza and the lack of control over borders as well as the question of who controls Jerusalem."

Back in the UK, Labour officials and union leaders will meet to rubber stamp the manifesto today during the party's highly secretive "Clause V" meeting. As well as discussing the recognition of a Palestinian state, intense negotiations are likely to focus on workers' rights, "which have been the subject of discussion between the party and unions for several weeks", said The Guardian.