ABSTRACT
In some senses, Britain’s role in steering Resolution 2334 through the Security Council in December 2016 had echoes of British success in bringing Resolution 242 to fruition nearly fifty years earlier. It also represented a continuity in British policy since 1967 of opposition to Israeli settlement-building on the grounds that not merely was this illegal under international law, but also retarded progress towards a two-state solution to the long-standing Israeli–Palestinian dispute. Nevertheless, Resolution 2334 was something of a rare success for British diplomacy. British condemnation of Israeli policies towards Palestine, especially with respect to settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, was routinely ignored and took on the appearance, however sincerely made, of a conditioned response. The British government under the Coalition and Conservative administrations refused to recognize the state of Palestine and also proved chary about taking stronger action than mere diplomatic representations, such as the suspension of the arms trade with Israel or imposing sanctions on Israel. In many respects, Israel was too important an economic partner to take such drastic action. Britain, moreover, no longer had the diplomatic clout to broker a meaningful peace. The British governments between 2010 and 2016 found themselves in the uncomfortable position of possessing a degree moral responsibility for the situation in the region stemming from the infamous 1917 Balfour Declaration, but lacking the physical power to play a meaningful or decisive role in ending the bloody conflict which had developed between Israel and Palestine.
