America and Britain may share a special relationship, but Vice President JD Vance made clear Friday that Washington draws the line at recognizing Palestinian statehood, even as the UK threatens to do exactly that by September.
Vance delivered his message during a diplomatic visit to Chevening House, Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s official country residence in Kent, where the two men discussed Gaza policy despite their fundamental disagreement on Palestinian recognition.
“Obviously, the UK is going to make its decision. We have no plans to recognise a Palestinian state,” Vance told reporters before his bilateral meeting with Lammy. “I don’t know what it would mean to really recognise a Palestinian state, given the lack of a functional government there.”
His comments highlighted a growing rift between Washington and several key allies who plan to recognize Palestinian statehood at September’s UN General Assembly. Britain announced on July 29 it would take that step unless Israel agrees to a Gaza ceasefire and commits to stopping West Bank settlements.
“We are hugely concerned by the humanitarian suffering that we’re seeing in Gaza,” Lammy said. “I am concerned about what is developing in Gaza at this time and the recent decision by the Cabinet, and hugely concerned, as I think a lot of Israeli people are, about the impact, particularly on the hostages.”
France and Canada have made similar pledges, creating coordinated pressure from allies that America refuses to join.
Instead, Vance outlined America’s two clear objectives in Gaza policy.
“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. Second, 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,” the vice president explained.
“We may have some disagreements about how exactly to accomplish that goal, and we’ll talk about that today.”
When pressed about whether Trump received advance warning of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fully occupy Gaza City, Vance declined to discuss private conversations. “I’m not going to go into such conversations,” he said, adding that Trump would address the matter himself.
Earlier Friday, Vance and his family joined Lammy for fishing in the lake behind Chevening’s 17th-century mansion. “Unfortunately, the one strain on the special relationship is that all of my kids caught fish, but the foreign secretary did not,” Vance joked with reporters.
After spending the weekend at Chevening, Vance and his family will move to the Cotswolds region for additional meetings with US troops stationed in Britain, cultural visits, and official engagements. His visit comes amid heightened scrutiny of his foreign policy role as he emerges as a central figure in Trump’s administration and potential successor.
When asked about Trump’s recent suggestion that he could be the Republican heir apparent in 2028, Vance deflected.
“I’m not really focused even on the election in 2026, much less one two years after that,” he said, emphasizing his current focus on “doing a good job” for Americans.
Source link
