Recognising Palestine would reward Oct 7 murderers, Starmer told
Tzipi Hotovely has described proposals for recognising a Palestine state as 'nothing less than a reward for terrorism'.
The ambassador, writing for The Telegraph, said that 'Palestinian recognition would be a reward for hostage-taking, for rape, for murder, for burning innocent people alive'.
Ms Hotovely added that recognition would also be a 'significant departure from the policy of the US administration ', risking a damaging rift with the White House.
She said: 'Terrorists are watching intently and the signal that they are receiving is that their violent tactics yield positive results for them in the UK and the West.'
Her intervention came as Jewish faith leaders in Britain told the Prime Minister that recognition 'cannot improve the situation' and would be 'gesture politics'.
Jewish faith leaders at the Board of Deputies, Britain's largest Jewish community organisation, have also told Sir Keir not to recognise a Palestinian state.
Phil Rosenberg, the board's president, said that Hamas 'will claim recognition of Palestine as a vindication of their murderous rampages and hostage-taking'.
Mr Rosenberg, writing for The Telegraph, said 'unilateral recognition cannot be a substitute for the difficult negotiations and concessions needed to realise an enduring peace'.
Sir Keir has come under increasing pressure from his own party to recognise a Palestinian state.
This week, 131 Labour MPs penned a letter urging their leader to follow Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and announce a plan to recognise a state.
Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, and Anas Sarwar, the leader of Scottish Labour, have also told the Prime Minister to act immediately. The Labour-led foreign affairs committee also recommended immediate recognition this week, describing it as 'inalienable right'.
Cabinet ministers have also reportedly urged the Prime Minister to act on the issue.
The setting up of a new Left-wing party under Jeremy Corbyn, pledging to support 'a free and independent Palestine', is also likely to put electoral pressure on Sir Keir.
On Saturday, the Prime Minister rejected calls from his party and Mr Macron to recognise a Palestinian state within the next few months.
He said that while he was 'unequivocal' about recognising a Palestinian state as part of a peace process, this should come after a ceasefire and the return of Israeli hostages.
Sir Keir said recognition 'must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis'.
The issue is set to dominate Donald Trump's four-day visit to the UK, with Sir Keir due to meet the US president at the latter's Turnberry golf course in Scotland on Monday.
He is attempting to finalise a UK-US trade deal with Mr Trump, the general terms of which were set out in May. There are fears within the Government that a disagreement with the president over Palestine recognition, which Mr Trump opposes, could derail the trade deal.
Ms Hotovely described recognition as 'an act of grandstanding and virtue-signalling' and accused Mr Macron of 'Napoleonic cosplaying'.
She claimed that after any recognition by Western powers, 'a Palestinian state would have all the ingredients of a would-be failed state'.
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