Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has warned that the prospect of a Palestinian state is “disappearing”.
Her statement followed a Middle East visit by The Elders, the international organisation founded at Nelson Mandela’s initiative.
Clark travelled with Chair Mary Robinson, Deputy Chair Graça Machel and Pakistani jurist Hina Jilani on a regional tour that included Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). During the visit the delegation met Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, and later Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Following meetings in Ramallah, The Elders issued a statement expressing alarm at what it described as accelerating settler violence in Judea and Samaria, deteriorating Palestinian health and education services, and Israel’s withholding of Palestinian tax revenues. The organisation called on Israel to release those revenues, warning that current policies were making life “increasingly untenable” for Palestinians and risked further violence.
Speaking to ABC News after the visit, Clark said continued settlement expansion threatened the viability of a future Palestinian state.
“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,” she said.
Clark also reiterated her support for recognising Palestinian statehood, arguing that recognition remained an affirmation of the internationally endorsed two-state solution.
“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 said.
The delegation’s public statement followed meetings with Palestinian Authority officials, but subsequent reporting confirmed that the group also held talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem. According to Clark, the discussion was “robust” and included Israeli security concerns as well as issues raised by The Elders during their visit.
Herzog’s office described the meeting as “respectful, candid and open”, saying the President stressed the trauma experienced by Israelis since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks, expressed disappointment at what he described as the silence of some international organisations over the sexual violence committed during those attacks, and highlighted opportunities for regional peace.
The visit has prompted discussion about whether The Elders’ published statement reflected the full range of issues discussed during the delegation’s regional meetings. While the statement focused primarily on settlements, humanitarian conditions and Palestinian finances, it made little reference to the Israeli security concerns described following the meeting with Herzog.
Clark has been an increasingly vocal advocate of Palestinian statehood in recent months and has previously criticised New Zealand for not joining countries that have recognised a Palestinian state.
The Elders describes itself as an independent group of global leaders working for peace, justice, human rights and a sustainable planet.
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