Israel’s ambassador to the UK has been condemned after she rejected a two-state solution to the conflict between her country and Palestine.
Tzipi Hotovely said “the answer is no” when asked directly whether Israel and Palestine should live side by side as two separate states.
In an interview with Sky News, she said a deal agreed 30 years ago between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation - known as the Oslo Accords - which envisaged a two-state solution was dead following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
She said: “I think it’s about time for the world to realise that the Oslo paradigm failed on October 7 and we need to build a new one.”
Asked by interviewer Mark Austin if that included a two-state solution, she replied: “I think the biggest question is what type of Palestinians are on the other side. The answer is absolutely no and I’ll tell you why.”
Austin then asked her: “Without offering a state to Palestine how can there be peace with Israel?”
But Hotovely said: “Israel knows today and the world should know now the reason the Oslo accords failed is because the Palestinians never wanted to have a state next to Israel, they want to have a state from the river to the sea.”
Asked if the “two-state solution is dead”, the ambassador replied: “Why are you obsessed for [a] formula that never worked, that created these radical people in the other side. Why are you obsessed with that?”
The ambassador’s comments put her at odds with both the UK government and the Labour Party, both of whom back a two-state solution.
Schools minister Damian Hinds told Sky News: “It’s the long-standing position that we must move towards a two-state solution. The entire international community wants to see progress on that.”
Shadow City minister Tulip Siddiq said: “A two-state solution is the Labour Party’s position and that will remain.”
Former Tory chair Sayeeda Warsi described the Israeli ambassador as “appalling”.
“She has a long and well documented history of denying the right of Palestine to exist and is a clear example of why this Israeli government is not a partner for peace,” she posted on X (formerly Twitter).
In a clear rebuke for Hotovely, the Labour Friends of Israel group said: “The Jewish and Palestinian people both have the right to national self-determination and dignity.
“This can only be achieved through a negotiated two-state solution for two peoples. A safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable, democratic and independent Palestine.”
Meanwhile, foreign secretary David Cameron has banned Israeli settlers he said were responsible for killing Palestinians from entering the UK.
He said the government wanted to “make sure our country cannot be a home for people who commit these intimidating acts”.