British government appears to prioritise relationship with US in sending junior delegation to Paris peace conference

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The British government has signalled its determination to stay close to Donald Trump’s administration by refusing to send a high-level delegation to the Middle East peace conference organised by the French government.

Neither a Foreign Office minister, nor the UK ambassador to France, will be attending the meeting on Sunday.

Most large EU countries have sent their foreign minister, and the British approach may hint at future UK policy choices. The French regard the conference as a vital chance to reaffirm the case for a negotiated two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Trump’s transition team reportedly told French diplomats they disapproved of the conference going ahead, seeing it as an attempt to put unfair pressure on Israel and give an unjustified reward to the Palestinians. The British government likely fears that the conference risks becoming a means to circumscribe future US policy on Israel before the Trump team has decided this.

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It is a primary tenet of UK foreign policy that the “special relationship” with the US is critical to the UK, and with Britain expected to leave the EU within two years, the government may feel an even greater need not to alienate Trump.

The US president-elect has promised to be more pro-Israel and disapproved of the Obama administration’s refusal to veto a groundbreaking UN security council resolution in December condemning illegal Israeli settlements.

The conference is being attended by the outgoing US secretary of state, John Kerry, who travelled from Vietnam to be at the meeting, five days before Trump’s inauguration.

The list of attendees released by the French foreign ministry to the long-planned conference includes 36 foreign ministers, as well as Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, the secretary general of the Arab League, and the EU foreign affairs representative, Federica Mogherini.

The list includes the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, as well as the Irish, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Turkish and Swedish foreign ministers. In total, 74 delegations were scheduled to attend the conference and hear a speech by the French president, François Hollande.

The UK, according to the list, is represented by Michael Howells, a diplomat who heads the Middle East desk at the Foreign Office, and two advisers to the UK ambassador to France, Edward Llewellyn.

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The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, sidestepped questions in the House of Commons last week about whether he would be going to the conference.

Although the UK voted for the UN resolution condemning illegal Israeli settlements, and played a role in drafting it, Downing Street unusually distanced itself from Kerry after his subsequent speech criticising the Israeli government for being the most rightwing in the country’s history.

The incoming US administration is sending mixed signals about its policy on Israel, with Trump supporting the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a highly controversial move that would underline the incoming president’s belief that Israel has the right to claim the disputed city as its capital. His nominee as defense secretary, James Mattis, has said he sees no case for changing the way in which the US is represented in Israel.