Opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch blasted Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s recognition of a Palestinian state as “absolutely disastrous,” charging it hands Hamas terrorists a victory while leaving Israeli hostages “languishing in Gaza.”
Britain on Sunday joined Canada and Australia in extending recognition, despite Hamas still ruling Gaza, holding hostages, and boasting of the October 7 massacre. The move, announced on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, was denounced as nothing less than a political prize for jihadists.
“Disastrous. Absolutely disastrous. We will all rue the day this decision was made,” Badenoch declared on X on Sunday, posting Starmer’s remarks. “Rewarding terrorism with no conditions whatsoever put in place for Hamas. It leaves hostages languishing in Gaza and does nothing to stop the suffering of innocent people caught in this war.”
Starmer had previously claimed recognition would be conditional — that Hamas must disarm, release the hostages, and relinquish control of Gaza. None of those conditions were met, yet he pressed ahead anyway.
On Saturday, Badenoch said Starmer was “rewarding terrorism with his Middle Eastern policy,” accusing him of being captive to Labour’s “hard-left backbenchers.” She added: “Britain cannot afford to be weak – only the Conservatives will stand up for our national interest.”
Writing in The Telegraph ahead of the announcement, the Opposition leader warned that recognition “would be a reward for terrorism,” pointing out that “the U.S. has been clear on this.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry blasted London’s move as “nothing but a reward for jihadist Hamas – emboldened by its Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in the UK,” noting Hamas leaders themselves admit recognition is the “fruit” of the October 7 massacre.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also condemned the decision on Sunday, declaring: “After the atrocities of October 7, while Hamas continues its campaign of terror, and while it continues to cruelly hold 48 hostages in the tunnels and dungeons of Gaza, the recognition of a Palestinian state by some nations today is, not surprisingly, cheered by Hamas.” Herzog warned it “will only embolden the forces of darkness” and called it “a sad day for those who seek true peace.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a defiant message of his own, vowing: “I have a clear message to those leaders who are recognizing a Palestinian state after the horrendous October 7 massacre: You are rewarding terror with an enormous prize. There will be no Palestinian state west of the Jordan River.”
Families of Israeli hostages also condemned the recognition on Sunday, with the Hostage and Missing Families Forum stating that granting “significant political rewards without securing the return of our loved ones represents a catastrophic failure of political, moral, and diplomatic leadership.”
The recognition also put London directly at odds with Washington. President Donald Trump, during his state visit to the UK last week, said it was “one of our few disagreements actually” with Starmer. The Trump administration has repeatedly stressed its opposition, viewing Palestinian statehood as nothing but a reward for Hamas terror.
The Opposition leader said the Palestinian recognition reflected what she sees as Starmer’s broader weakness abroad. “This summer, when Hamas leaders were eliminated in strikes by our democratic ally Israel, Keir Starmer rushed to condemn not the terrorists, but Israel,” she wrote in The Telegraph. “When Israel and the U.S. coordinated strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, a regime that funds terrorism on our streets and threatens our citizens, Labour’s leaders could not say whether they supported the action.”
That posture, she argued, “sends a signal to terrorists and tyrants alike that Britain no longer knows which way it is going.”
Polling suggests Starmer’s recognition is widely unpopular at home. A JL Partners survey released Saturday found 87 percent of Britons oppose recognition without conditions, 51 percent oppose recognition while Hamas remains in control of Gaza, and 52 percent believe it directly rewards terrorism.
Conservative shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said Starmer is “sending a dangerous message, where violence and extremism are tolerated and rewarded,” accusing him of bowing to Labour’s “hard-left factions.” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage branded the recognition “a surrender to terrorism and a betrayal of Israel.”
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis called it a “historic error of foreign policy” that would “impede the cause of peace” and serve as another “reward for terrorism.”
Badenoch said Starmer’s recognition was consistent with other Labour decisions she argued weakened Britain’s standing — from surrendering the Chagos Islands to pushing net zero policies that hand “economic leverage” to hostile powers. “It is because Labour cannot fix the big problems in our society that they focus on discredited student union campaigns to appease the hard left,” she said.
The move came despite U.S. Republicans warning against such recognition just days earlier. On Friday, House Republican Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and Sen. Rick Scott led a congressional letter to Britain, France, Canada, and Australia, calling it “a reckless policy that undermines prospects for peace” and a “dangerous reward for terror.”
They stressed recognition “removes incentives for Palestinian groups to repudiate terrorism,” while the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas has gone nearly two decades without elections, clinging to a four-year term from 2005 — hardly the hallmarks of a state.
The Opposition leader warned Starmer “will spend the next four years delivering the hobby horses of the Labour left to stay in power – and leave a HUGE mess for us to clean up.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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