Prospects for Palestinian statehood 'disappearing', former world leaders say

Prospects for Palestinian statehood 'disappearing', former world leaders say

Helen Clark says Palestine will "disappear" if Israeli settlement and annexation continues. (ABC News: Burhan Bhat)

The prospects for Palestinian statehood, and a future for its people, are "disappearing" according to two former world leaders.

Ireland's Mary Robinson and New Zealand's Helen Clark toured the occupied West Bank, imploring Israel to reverse its expansion of settlements and stop the incitement of violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli government has continued to approve settlements in the West Bank, which it refers to by its biblical names of Judea and Samaria.

The prospects for Palestinian statehood and a future for its people are "disappearing", according to two former world leaders who are demanding the international community heap more pressure on Israel to change course.

Mary Robinson, who served as Ireland's first female president from late 1990 to 1997, and Helen Clark, New Zealand's prime minister from 1999 to 2008, made the warning after completing a tour of Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the occupied West Bank this week.

The pair are members of "The Elders", a group established by the late Nelson Mandela in 2007, of former politicians and Nobel laureates.

They identified the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and incitement to violence against the Palestinian population, particularly by the right-wing Netanyahu government's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, as key drivers for their concerns.

Ms Robinson described the situation facing Palestinians in the West Bank as "so much worse" than it was the last time she visited in 2023, before Hamas' deadly attacks on Israel on October 7 of that year.

"It doesn't seem to be individual acts of terrorism by individual settlers anymore — it's systemic," she told journalists in Jerusalem.

"First of all, it's the explicit hate speech, both of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir — language that would not be normal in any government from ministers, and dehumanising and making it quite clear that they want to annex the whole of the West Bank.

"Then you have the complicity that we heard about between the military and the settlers, that sometimes they seem to be exchangeable.

Mary Robinson, pictured here in 2025, says settler violence is a "systemic" issue. (Reuters: Jeenah Moon)

Mr Smotrich and Mr Ben-Gvir have been sanctioned by several countries, including Australia, for their public commentary and policies.

Warnings 'Palestine will disappear'

Settler violence in the West Bank has surged since October 7, 2023, with the United Nations recording some of its highest monthly figures this year.

From the beginning of 2026 through to May, the UN said there had been more than 760 incidents across the West Bank resulting in injuries to Palestinians or damage to properties — an average of six incidents per day.

Israel's occupation of the Palestinian Territories and East Jerusalem has been ruled unlawful by the International Court of Justice.

At the time of that decision, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the ruling and labelled it a "decision of lies," and said, "the Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land — not in our eternal capital Jerusalem, nor in our ancestral heritage of Judea and Samaria".

Judea and Samaria are the biblical names for the area widely called the West Bank.

During its last term, the Netanyahu government approved more than 100 new settlements in the West Bank.

"Palestine will disappear before our eyes if this process of settlement and annexation continues, and has greatly stepped up in the last two and a half years," Ms Clark said.

Mr Smotrich has repeatedly called for the Israeli annexation of the West Bank, even though the US president has said he would not allow that to happen.

Legal experts and Palestinian advocates have warned the Israeli government's current policies amount to de facto annexation, infringing on the rights of the Palestinian population.

Those policies range from the seizure of land to road closures and even the withholding of tax revenue collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, leaving the body in dire financial straits.

The Israeli settlement of Kokhav Yaakov inside the West Bank. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)

As part of their tour of the West Bank, Ms Robinson and Ms Clark travelled to the Palestinian village of Deir Nizam, north-west of the administrative capital, Ramallah.

Ms Clark said the roads to the village, despite being in occupied territory, were lined with Israeli flags, giving the impression that it was Israeli land.

Two of the three roads into the village had been arbitrarily blocked by Israelis, she said, limiting access to the area.

She described "fear and apprehension" from the locals the group had spoken to, and said the community felt "beleaguered" after years of intimidation and aggression from nearby settlers.

The "Elders" later met with Israel's President, Isaac Herzog, describing the conversation as "robust".

"The president of Israel asserted strongly what his belief is in the Israeli position, but we also put to him the things that we had witnessed, the things we had seen, and appealed to him as the president, and a figure of national unity, to help find a path to peace," Ms Clark told the ABC.

"I believe we listened to each other — we didn't agree on several points, but it was important to us to say to the president what we would say to the media and to others: 'We come here with an open heart, trying to support a way forward for both peoples.'

"We have expressed our concern about hate speech, about dehumanisation of Palestinians, we've expressed our concerns about the administrative detention and other forms of detention, which seem to be almost endless for many."

The "Elders" met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog with an "open heart". (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)

Mr Herzog's office described the talks as "respectful, candid and open".

"He stressed to them the importance of international organisations understanding the deep pain and trauma felt by the Israeli people ever since October 7," a spokesperson said.

"In particular, he raised his longstanding disappointment and dismay over the silence of international bodies, such as UN Women, regarding the crimes of sexual violence committed on October 7.

"He also highlighted the importance of seizing the present opportunities for peace between Israel and its neighbours in the region, and Israel's hope for a brighter and more peaceful future for all the children of the Middle East."

Ireland has become one of the most staunch critics of Israel since the war in Gaza began, with Ms Robinson saying many Irish people saw their own history of struggling for independence reflected in the current situation in the Middle East.

She said she felt "ashamed" that the European Union, of which Ireland currently holds the presidency, had not taken a harder stance against Israel through measures such as sanctions and banning products from Israeli settlements.

But Ms Robinson said that was a case of how the European Union's model worked, and with large countries like Germany and Italy standing in the way of major policy shifts, the issue had somewhat stalled.

Ms Clark, who has spoken against her own country not joining with others such as Australia in recognising Palestinian statehood, said such a step was important.

"Recognising the statehood of Palestine now is a statement of belief in a two-state solution, the only internationally approved solution for the way forward," she told the ABC.

"It's critical that we hang on to that, because what is the alternative? It is unthinkable."

She rejected suggestions made by some, including the Israeli government, that acknowledging Palestinian statehood effectively rewarded Hamas for its terror on October 7, 2023.

"Recognising now is a statement of belief in a future where two peoples can live side-by-side in peace," Ms Clark said.

"We must not give up on this because the alternative is not an attractive alternative and is a recipe for ongoing conflict and division in the region."