'I don’t know what it would mean to really recognize a Palestinian state, given the lack of functional government there,' says JD Vance
The US on Friday reaffirmed its opposition to recognizing a Palestinian state, setting the stage for diplomatic discussions with the UK, which recently made the decision to recognize Palestinian statehood.
Speaking during his visit to the UK, US Vice President JD Vance said the issue would be part of talks with Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
“Obviously, the UK is going to make its decision. We have no plans to recognize a Palestinian state," Vance said at the Chevening House in Kent.
“I don’t know what it would mean to really recognize a Palestinian state, given the lack of functional government there. And what the president has made very clear is our two goals are very simple right now, vis a vis the situation in Israel and Gaza," he said.
"Number one, we want to make it so that Hamas cannot attack innocent Israeli civilians ever again, and we think that has to come through the eradication of Hamas," he added.
Second, he said, "the president has been very moved by these terrible images of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. So, we want to make sure that we solve that problem."
"I think all of us can work on how to solve that problem. Obviously, it’s not an easy problem to solve, or it would have already been dealt with, but we share, I think, that focus and that goal," he added.
“We may have some disagreements about how exactly to accomplish that goal, and we’ll talk about that today."
Asked whether the US was given prior warning of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to order the occupation of Gaza City, Vance said he was not going to discuss “private conversations.”
He said he expected Trump to speak to the media himself about the matter.
