OPINION: Starmer ignores a key component for a lasting peace – Palestinian agency
There is nothing in the Prime Minister's announcement to encourage behaviour conducive to state-building
There’s a lot not to like about Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plan for Britain’s potential recognition of a Palestinian state. Both morally and strategically, this is a deeply flawed plan, which absolves the Palestinian people of all agency and puts responsibility squarely at the feet of Israel. Rather than breaking the cycle of suffering, this announcement will only perpetuate it.
The problem of Western nations and institutions removing all agency from Palestinian leadership is nothing new. Far too few questions have been asked as to why Palestinian leaders have rejected consistent peace proposals. Why were the Oslo Accords succeeded by the second intifada? Why, now, is Palestinian leadership absent from the conditions that must be met in order for Britain to recognise Palestinian statehood?
It would be one thing to recognise a Palestinian state out of a deep moral belief or conviction in recognition as a means of advancing the cause of the Palestinian people; This is President Macron’s supposed justification. But threatening to do so as a punitive measure against Israel for its conduct in a defensive war only rewards October 7th, encourages Hamas to enforce greater suffering, and essentially degrades the Palestinian people as simply being a tool to extract concessions from Israel. This is no foundation for a prosperous state.
Perhaps most appalling is that this announcement renders the Palestinian people entirely unable to alter their own fate. Speaking to the Pinsker Centre in June 2025, Palestinian American writer Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib described his hopes for a future state of Palestine with agency. He explains that, whilst he is eager to see the establishment of a prospective Palestinian state, he is also eager to see a sense of responsibility among Palestinian leadership. ‘With rights comes responsibilities- for security towards the Jewish people, towards Israel. Responsibility towards being good custodians of the state, of its resources, of its people, of its system of governance’. This notion of Palestinian responsibility is totally absent from Starmer’s announcement.
Under Starmer’s plan, it is Israel’s actions alone that will determine whether a Palestinian state is recognised. This represents an abject failure to put pressure on those responsible for starting this war, from which so much suffering has arisen. Starmer claims Israel, not Hamas, must agree to a ceasefire, merely days after the US administration voiced their frustration at Hamas’ intransigence. How exactly does the Prime Minister expect Israel to agree to a ceasefire now, having emboldened the terror group already seeking to prevent one? Hamas no longer has any incentive to engage in peace talks, no incentive to release Israeli hostages; by stifling peace talks, they have the promise of recognition.
The only agency this plan encourages among the Palestinian leadership on their path to statehood, is to antagonise Israel further so as to ensure the Prime Minister’s demands cannot be met, thus ensuring their recognition. There is nothing in Starmer’s announcement to encourage behaviour conducive to state-building. There are no foundations for peace and prosperity.
This announcement dooms the future state it supposedly hopes to create. It signals to the Palestinian leadership that they can act with impunity, consigning the Palestinian people to a lifetime of suffering under their failed leadership, be that the religious extremists of Hamas in Gaza or the corrupt oligarchs of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. By using the establishment of a Palestinian state as a threat to Israel, Starmer is not only rewarding the terrorist acts which started this war, but he is also doing so without imposing any responsibility on those he seeks to hand statehood to. That formula all but guarantees the cycle of violence continues.
Benjamin Freeman is the Director of the Pinsker Centre, a UK-based foreign policy think tank.
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