Starmer urges PM to press for ‘meaningful’ Israel-Palestine peace talks at G7
During PMQs the Labour leader said meeting with President Joe Biden and the possibility of a new government in Israel provided a 'real chance' to restart talks
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Sir Keir Starmer has called for the Prime Minister to press for a “meaningful Middle East peace process” at this weekend’s G7 summit.
During Prime Minister’s Question Time, the Labour leader said bilateral talks with the American President Joe Biden and the “possibility of a new government in Israel” provided a “real chance” to restart talks.
Starmer told the House of Commons: “The appalling violence recently which killed 63 children in Gaza and two children in Israel shows just how urgent this is.
“For too many people in Palestine the promise of an end to the occupation and the recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state feels more distant than ever.
“So will the Prime Minister take the opportunity this weekend to press for renewed agreement to finally recognise a state of Palestine and to stop expansion of illegal settlements and to get a meaningful peace process back and running.”
Responding Boris Johnson said: “It has been a long-standing objective of this government – and I think it is common ground across this House that the solution for the Middle East peace process is a two-state solution.
“And we continue to press for that. I have made that position plain, both in conversations with the Palestinian Authority, and of course, with Israel.”
The G7 summit will start on Friday in Cornwall. Climate change and the continued response to Covid will dominate the agenda, although the situation in the Middle East is also likely to be raised.
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