British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is nearly impossible.
Speaking on Jan. 22, Election Day in Israel, in Britain’s House of Commons, Hague told his fellow lawmakers that “I attach enormous importance to this in the year 2013, particularly with a new or reelected Israeli government and with a U.S. administration beginning its second term. If we do not make progress in the coming year, people will increasingly conclude that a two-state solution has become impossible.”
Hague’s words came as Israelis voted in an election that is expected to keep right-leaning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in power.
“It is very much in the long-term strategic interests of Israel and peace in the whole region to embrace the two-state solution because all alternatives to that will be more problematic for the Israelis,” Hague said.
Hague also condemned Israel’s decisions to announce further construction in West Bank settlements, saying that the policy “is losing it the support of the international community and will make a two-state solution impossible.”
He called for a return to peace talks “without preconditions.”