Israeli government figures have called for a takeover of the West Bank after several countries, including the UK, Canada, Malta, and Australia, formally recognised the state of Palestine.
On Sunday, Sir Keir Starmer joined a growing number of Western leaders in announcing recognition, prompted by intensifying humanitarian crises in Gaza.
It is expected to be top of the agenda at the UN General Assembly summit this week, with the UN voting to allow Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to address the gathering.
However, Israel’s hard-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, said he would call for the “immediate” annexation of the West Bank in response to the move.
“The recognition by Britain, Canada, and Australia of a ‘Palestinian’ state, as a reward for the Nukhba murderers, demands immediate countermeasures,” he wrote in a statement on X/Twitter.
The countermeasures should include, he said: “The immediate application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria [the biblical terms for the West Bank region] and the complete crushing of the ‘Palestinian’ terror authority.
“It is my intention to submit a proposal for the application of sovereignty to the upcoming government meeting.”
The move would represent the de facto annexation of land seized in the 1967 six-day war.
Israel’s hard-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich backed the proposal, saying it was the “only answer” to the escalating tensions, which have spilt over into surrounding regions.
“The days when Britain and other countries determined our future are over,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
“The mandate has ended, and the only response to the anti-Israeli move is sovereignty over the homeland of the Jewish people in Judea and Samaria, and the removal of the foolish idea of a Palestinian state from the agenda forever.”
Addressing Benjamin Netanyahu, he said: “Mr prime minister, this is the time and it is in your hands.”
Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has warned Israel not to retaliate, saying that the symbolic recognition of a Palestinian state is about “protecting peace and justice and crucially, security for the Middle East”.
“The easy thing to do would be to just walk away and to say well it is all just too hard,” she told the BBC.
