BICOM

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson delivered a statement in Parliament yesterday to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration later this week.

The Foreign Secretary said: “I believe that the Balfour declaration paved the way for the birth of a great nation. The state of Israel has prevailed over every obstacle, from the harshness of nature to the visceral hostility of its enemies, to become a free society with a thriving and innovative economy and the same essential values that we in Britain hold dear.” Johnson noted that widespread antisemitism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries had “created the necessity of the Balfour Declaration”.

The Foreign Secretary said: “I see no contradiction in being a friend of Israel and a believer in that country’s destiny while also being profoundly moved by the suffering of those who were affected and dislodged by its birth. That vital caveat in the Balfour declaration — intended to safeguard the rights of other communities, by which, of course, we mean the Palestinians — has not been fully realised.”

At numerous points during his statement and the debate that followed, the Foreign Secretary reiterated the British Government’s commitment to the two-state solution. He struck a positive tone when discussing the latest attempts to revive the peace process, noting “that the US Administration have shown their commitment to breaking the deadlock, and a new American envoy, Jason Greenblatt, has made repeated visits to the region”.

Responding to the statement, Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry expressed her party’s “continued support for the state of Israel”.

She praised Israel’s founding egalitarian principles and said that “modern Israel still stands out for its commitment to egalitarianism — in particular, its commitment to women and LGBT communities in a region where these groups are far too often subject to fierce discrimination”.

Thornberry went on to argue “that there is no better or more symbolic way of marking the Balfour centenary than for the UK officially to recognise the state of Palestine” and said that if this government will not recognise Palestine, “then the next Labour Government will”.

Johnson said that while the British government ultimately wants to recognise a viable Palestinian state, the time is not yet right to do so. He also said it was “disappointing” that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will not be attending a dinner to mark the centenary later this week.