Starmer sets bad incentives

The Guardian reports:

A British-Israeli woman who was held hostage by Hamas for more than 15 months has accused Keir Starmer of “moral failure” after he set the UK on course to recognise a Palestinian state.

Emily Damari, 29, who was released in January, said the prime minister was “not standing on the right side of history” and should be ashamed.

Her criticism came as lawyers representing British families of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas said the UK government’s intention to recognise a Palestinian state ran the risk of disincentivising the release of captives.

Starmer said on Tuesday that the UK would recognise a Palestinian state in September unless the Israeli government abided by a ceasefire and committed to a two-state solution to the conflict.

A ceasefire needs both sides to agree. One of the issues around a ceasefire is Israel wants the return of the remaining hostages.

Starmer has effectively said that if Hamas refuses to release any more hostages, resulting in no ceasefire with Israel, then the UK will recognise Palestine as an independent state. This does not seem to me like a good incentive!

As I blogged in June, I no longer support the ongoing military action in Gaza. I fully supported Israel’s actions in the first year to 18 months as justified by self defence. But there is no mandate for an endless war. As I said, I would do a Korea style DMZ around Gaza.