The US is opposed to Palestinian statehoodpublished at 08:03 BST
08:03 BST
Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent
Image source, ReutersImage caption,
On a state visit to the UK last week, Trump acknowledged he had a “disagreement with the prime minister [Starmer] on that score”
The Trump administration has never made any secret of its opposition to recognition.
In fact, it’s clear that the US position has hardened into outright opposition to the very concept of Palestinian independence.
In June, the current US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said he thought the US no longer supported the creation of a Palestinian state.
More recently, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Hamas would “feel more emboldened” by the international push to recognise Palestine.
His words, during a joint news conference with Netanyahu on 15 September, echoed the Israeli argument that recognition is a “reward for terrorism,” following the devastating Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023.
Rubio also says the US has warned those advocating recognition that it’s likely to provoke Israel into annexing the West Bank.
“We told them that it would lead to these sorts of reciprocal actions and that it would make a ceasefire [in Gaza] harder,” he told reporters at the beginning of September.