Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom have announced their recognition of the State of Palestine. Portugal followed suit later on Sunday.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by saying in a video message: “This will not happen. There will be no Palestinian state in the West Bank.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry also said that the recognition of Palestinian statehood “is nothing more than a gift to the jihadist Hamas organization, which is encouraged by its allies in the United Kingdom, the Muslim Brotherhood.”
“The Hamas leadership themselves openly admit that this recognition is a direct result of the October 7 massacre, its ‘fruit,’” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X.
Israeli opposition politicians have blamed the Western recognition of Palestinian statehood on Netanyahu and his far-right allies, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. “The unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood is a grave political failure by Netanyahu and Smotrich and a devastating step for Israel’s security,” said Yair Golan, leader of the Democratic Party.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the decision by the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada a bad move, but said, “The current Israeli government would not allow such a thing.”
