Israeli Embassy in London responds to British parliament’s passing of a motion to recognize “the state of Palestine”.

The Israeli Embassy in London responded on Monday night to the British parliament’s passing of a non-binding motion to recognize “the state of Palestine”.

In a statement, the Embassy said that Palestinian statehood can only be achieved through negotiations.

“The road to a Palestinian state goes through the negotiating room. International recognition sends an alarming message to the Palestinian leadership, that they can evade the hard decisions that both sides have to make, and in fact undermines the prospects of achieving real peace,” the Embassy said.

“Recognition of a Palestinian state must be the end result of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority,” the statement added.

The motion, which was sponsored by Labour member Grahame Morris, passed on Monday night by an overwhelming majority of 274 to 12.

It calls to "recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel" as part of a "contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said prior to the vote that he would not take part in it and his spokesman added that the government was asking ministers to abstain.

The British move came after Sweden made a storm by pledging its commitment to recognize a Palestinian state on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman criticized the announcement, saying it came to compensate for Western failures.

Sweden eventually effectively retracted the statement, saying that “the conflict between Israel and Palestine can be solved through the two-state solution, by negotiations in accordance with the principles of international law.”