ISRAEL AND PALESTINE (2)

Yesterday's vote by the British Parliament to recognise Palestine as a state was non-binding on the Government; David Cameron and other Ministers abstained. Official policy towards the Israel-Palestine conflict will not change. Yet despite that, it might just be a watershed. Until recently, Israel seemed to be winning the argument that the Palestinians were not yet ready to become a state. However, their recent heavy-handed onslaught in Gaza, that reduced much of it to rubble and killed lots of civilians, has convinced many outsiders that Israel will never accept that they are ready. So it is time to change their status.

About time too, in my view.

Walter Blotscher