Overwhelming majority of Labour voters oppose PM’s plan to recognize Palestinian state

Just 13% of Britons back Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plan to extend recognition to a Palestinian state without a final status agreement with Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

Close to seven out of every eight Britons oppose Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s planned recognition of unilateral Palestinian statehood, according to a new poll released over the weekend.

The poll, conducted by the JL Partners firm, was released a day before Starmer’s much-anticipated announcement Sunday extending British recognition of statehood to the Palestinian Authority.

A total of 2,118 Britons were surveyed for the poll from August 19th through the 31st, with results broken down by party identification.

According to the poll, 87% of Brits oppose recognizing Palestinian statehood “without any conditions,” with just 13% of respondents backing recognition even without the return of the 48 hostages held in Gaza, Hamas’ surrender, or the terror group’s acceptance of ceasefire terms offered by the United States.

Large majorities of supporters of all of the four largest British political parties opposed unconditional British recognition of Palestinian statehood, with opposition highest among backers of the Conservative Party, among whom just 6% supported recognition, compared to 94% who opposed it.

In a close second, 92% of supporters of Reform UK – a new, right-wing rival of the Conservative Party founded by Brexit advocate Nigel Farage – said they opposed unconditional recognition of Palestinian statehood.

Even among supporters of the Labour Party nearly nine-out-of-ten (89%) said they opposed unconditional recognition of Palestinian statehood, leaving Starmer with the support of just 11% of his own voter base on the issue.

Support for the plan was highest among Green Party supporters, 32% of whom said they backed unconditional recognition.

An absolute majority of respondents (51%) said they would oppose recognition of Palestinian statehood so long as Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and refuses to return the remaining 48 hostages.

Forty percent said that Hamas must agree to a ceasefire and return the captives before any recognition of statehood is granted.

A minority of 17% said they would opposed recognition of Palestinian statehood under any conditions.

However, a narrow majority (52%) said that granting recognition of statehood would reward terrorism.

“The median view of the British public is that recognition must come with conditions – namely a mutually agreed ceasefire and the release of the hostages,” JL Partners cofounder James Johnson said, according to the Telegraph.