Exclusive Israel must allow Palestinians to ‘decide how to run their own lives’: Boris Johnson

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said Israel must recognize that peace in Gaza can only be achieved by giving Palestinians real control over their future, while dismissing Britain’s formal recognition of a Palestinian state under Prime Minister Keir Starmer as “completely vacuous.”

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“Israel and the government of Israel need to understand that this is the beginning of a process that must give the Palestinians some ability to decide how to run their own lives,” Johnson said in an exclusive interview on Al Arabiya English.

The former prime minister, who praised the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire as “a very hopeful moment,” said the next stage must focus on governance and economic stability inside the enclave. “It’s got to be a Palestinian-run place, but without Hamas,” he said. “We’ve got to help that happen. We’ve got to help trigger business investment. That’s the best solution.”

Asked about the UK government’s recent decision to recognize the state of Palestine, Johnson rejected the move as premature and symbolic.

“I think it’s completely vacuous. I think it’s trivial,” he said. “It made no difference. It didn’t give the Palestinians anything worthwhile. It didn’t give the people growing up in Gaza anything worthwhile.”
He argued that recognition should only come when clear boundaries and stable institutions exist.

“Recognition of a state should only really happen under the terms of the Monte Convention of 1933, which we sign up to… when you know the boundaries of the entity, and you know that you have a secure government and a recognized system of government. You don’t have either of those in the case of Palestine,” he said. “It should happen eventually, but it’s premature now and it has achieved nothing.”

Johnson added that Britain should play an active part in Gaza’s reconstruction, with or without former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s involvement.

“I hope that the UK will play a big role in rebuilding Gaza,” he said. “There’s got to be some way of giving confidence to investors in Gaza… where they can bring up their kids, have homes, and there’ll be job opportunities.”

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