{"id":36359,"date":"2026-08-23T04:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T04:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=36359"},"modified":"2026-08-23T04:26:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T04:26:20","slug":"former-british-and-french-diplomats-urge-action-over-israels-erasure-of-palestine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=36359","title":{"rendered":"Former British and French diplomats urge action over Israel\u2019s \u2018erasure\u2019 of Palestine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a letter to Macron and Burnham, more than 100 senior figures accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing and call for measures including a trade ban<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 100 French and British former diplomats have said Palestine<\/a> is being erased in front of the world\u2019s eyes and called for urgent action including trade and arms sales bans to press Israel to accept a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An unprecedented joint letter<\/a> dispenses with diplomatic language by accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing and warning that the world no longer sees Israel as a genuine democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arguing that Britain and France<\/a> played a key role in the formation of the modern-day Middle East and noting that both countries took the step of recognising Palestine as a state in 2025, the diplomats contend that their countries now have a responsibility \u201cto make common cause on the region\u2019s fundamental fault line \u2013 equal rights for Israeli and Palestinians\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter, addressed to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the British prime minister, Andy Burnham, has been signed by 52 French former diplomats and 50 British former ambassadors, many of whom served in the Middle East, in senior posts in Egypt, Iran, Bahrain, Israel<\/a>, Syria, Turkey, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list of British diplomats includes two former envoys to the UN, Jeremy Greenstock and Emyr Jones Parry, and a former Foreign Office director of the Middle East, Edward Chaplin. The French signatories include Patrice Paoli, a former Middle East director at the French foreign ministry, and Stanislas de Laboulaye, a former consul general in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter, given to the Guardian and Le Monde, is published two days after the UK and France, along with nine other countries, condemned the Israeli government\u2019s publication of construction tenders for the\u00a0E1 settlement project<\/a>, saying the proposed housing \u201cwill take Israel further from peace and undermine its international standing\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That statement contained no clear threat of consequences apart from a warning to businesses in their jurisdictions not to become involved in bidding since there could be legal and reputational consequences arising from investing in the construction of an unlawful settlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, described the tenders for 1,200 homes bisecting the West Bank<\/a> as a destructive threat to the viability of a two-state solution and summoned the most senior Israeli diplomat currently in the UK, the charg\u00e9e d\u2019affaires, Daniela Grudsky Ekstein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Israel\u2019s foreign minister, Gideon Sa\u2019ar, vowed Israel would not remain passive, saying the \u201cJewish people have a right to live throughout Israel just as British people have a right to live throughout the UK\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The diplomats hope their letter will put pressure on Macron and Burnham to impose specific penalties on Israel in an effort to keep the two-state solution alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Houses<\/a>
Houses near the area where Israel plans to build the E1 settlement project. Photograph: Debbie Hill\/UPI\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Diplomacy surrounding the terms for Israel\u2019s withdrawal from Gaza<\/a> has largely been subcontracted to the negotiations between Israel and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law and envoy, but Israel has rejected the latest 15-point US-led peace plan for Gaza, leading to criticism from eight Muslim countries including the United Arab Emirates, Israel\u2019s closest Muslim ally. They said Israel\u2019s actions \u201cfundamentally undermine the collective efforts undertaken to achieve a just and lasting peace\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An internal debate has swirled among diplomats over whether the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, through military and political provocations, is seeking to goad countries into reprisals that will help his chances in elections, due on 27 October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former diplomats argue the overdue step of recognising Palestine \u201cneeds to be made real by urgent action to safeguard the Palestinian right to self-determination, as the Israeli government seeks to destroy any prospect of an independent Palestinian state, showing contempt for the law, the rulings of the International Court of Justice and countless UN Security Council resolutions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They write: \u201cOur governments care about the security of the Israeli people, just as they are appalled by the suffering of the Palestinian people under occupation. Hamas committed heinous crimes on 7 October 2023, but nothing justifies Israel\u2019s systematic policy of destruction of Gaza and its population. Mr Netanyahu\u2019s assertion that Israel must live by the sword is morally wrong and counterproductive. It imperils Israel\u2019s security and leaves no room for negotiation. As a result, the world no longer sees Israel as a genuine democracy \u2013 there is nothing democratic about depriving others of their rights and land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Gaza, 2 million Palestinians are kettled into 30% of their devastated land, hungry, lacking medicine and housing. Over 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the so-called \u2018ceasefire\u2019. In East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, Palestinian house demolitions and rampant settler violence \u2013 with the connivance of the Israeli army and police \u2013 amount to ethnic cleansing. Palestine is being erased before our eyes. This policy of occupation and destruction extends to Lebanon \u2013 where many villages have been razed \u2013 and Syria. It is a stain on the conscience of humanity, requiring the UK and France to act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They urge the two states to take seven policy steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n