OPINION: It’s time for Israel to show leadership again – not for the world but our ourselves

Yesterday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his intention to recognise a Palestinian state in September. For many in Israel, this will feel like betrayal: a close ally shifting position during one of our darkest chapters, while 50 hostages remain in captivity and war rages in Gaza.

But if we allow ourselves only anger and isolation, we will miss the deeper signal behind this decision. The world is no longer waiting for us to lead. It is moving on without us.

Instead of retreating into self-righteous indignation, Israel must do something bolder: lead again.

The international conference on the two-state solution, co-sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia, is not a trap. It is an invitation, an opportunity. Not only to be in the room, but to help shape the room.

For decades, Israel has rightly insisted that peace can only come through direct negotiations. But here’s the truth: when we turn our backs on the international community, when we allow others to define our future, we forfeit our seat at the table. We abandon the power to shape our destiny.

The world is not turning against Israel because of our existence, but because it can no longer reconcile our legitimate right to security with the devastating images from Gaza, the expansion of settlements, ever-expanding extremist settler violence, and ministers who weaponise humanitarian aid and mock international law.

We must show them something else. Not because we owe it to the world, but because we owe it to ourselves. Israel was founded on a dream of coexistence, of moral strength and democratic values. We must reclaim that dream, not by abandoning our security, but by anchoring it in legitimacy, humanity, and courage.

That means standing at the UN this September and saying:

Yes, we want peace.

Yes, we support a two-state solution.

Yes, we will negotiate.

And yes, we demand partners who reject terror, embrace recognition, and seek to build, not destroy.

This is not naïveté. This is strategy. It is not weakness. It is moral strength.

Israel cannot win a war of legitimacy by boycotting the table. We win by setting it, by reminding the world that we are the nation that made peace with Egypt and with Jordan and normalised ties with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco. That we stood on the verge of peace with Saudi Arabia. That even now, we are ready, if there is a partner, to finish the journey.

We must make a clear distinction: the people of Gaza are not Hamas. To confuse the two is to fall into Hamas’s trap. And worse, it erodes our moral standing and clouds the clarity of our cause.

We cannot claim the right to defend ourselves while turning a blind eye to humanitarian catastrophe. We cannot fight Hamas effectively while allowing them to define our identity to the world.

Recognition of Palestine should not be a punishment. It should be part of a process. Israel has the opportunity now to reframe that process, not as capitulation to pressure, but as a strategic reset. A moment to say: We are not the obstacle. We are the opportunity.

This is how we reclaim the middle ground. This is how we bring home the hostages. This is how we rebuild trust with the world, with our neighbours, and with ourselves.

History will ask: When the world shifted, did Israel dig in, or did it rise up?

Let our answer be clear: We showed up. We showed leadership. And we shaped the future.

• Lieutenant Colonel (R.) Peter Lerner is the Director General of International Relations of the Histadrut, he served for 25 years in the IDF as a spokesperson and a liaison officer to international organisations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. X: @LTCPeterLerner