Unlike With France, Rubio Spares UK Criticism Over Palestine Recognition

The US State Department held back from condemning Britain for its decision to recognize a Palestinian state, just hours after emphasizing its disapproval of the move in a readout of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s call with French Foreign Minister Jean Noel-Barrot.

Although both France and the United Kingdom have declared their intent to support recognition of Palestine at the UN General Assembly, only Paris was singled out in Washington’s official statements about Rubio’s conversations with his French and British counterparts earlier in the day.

The summary of Rubio’s discussion with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy simply noted that they “discussed Hamas and the situation in Gaza, including efforts to bring all the hostages home.”

By contrast, the US account of Rubio’s conversation with Noel-Barrot made clear that he voiced Washington’s “strong opposition to any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian State, a move that would reward Hamas for October 7 and hinder efforts to bring all hostages home.”

While US diplomatic readouts often provide only standard talking points, they are also used to convey subtle signals, and the contrast between the two statements suggested a different tone toward Britain compared with France regarding their planned recognition of Palestine.

France was the first nation to publicly commit to the step, with the UK, Canada, Australia, and Belgium soon joining the list of countries preparing to follow.