Britain is moving toward accepting the concept of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the government’s chief Middle East policy-maker has hinted.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said in January that Britain did not intend to recognize the state proclaimed in Algiers last November by the Palestine Liberation Organization. She subsequently let it be known that she does not favor such a state.
But in an interview with the Jewish Chronicle, William Waldegrave said Britain must now take into account Jordan’s strong preference for an independent Palestinian state.
Waldegrave, who is minister of state at the Foreign Office, met last week in Amman with Jordan’s King Hussein, who in turn met with Thatcher this week in London.
Hussein “made it clear to me that he does not rule out some kind of confederation” between Jordan and the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said Waldegrave.
“But he clearly thinks that a separate Palestinian sovereignty has to come first and that no solution can or should be imposed on the West Bankers or, indeed, on him,” he said.
“He made it very plain to us that he does not want to be rushed into a federal solution, to which neither he nor the Palestinians would feel a true allegiance.”
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