Two ex-leaders warn of threat to future Palestinian state after Israel visit

Two former heads of government from the Elders group of international figures founded by Nelson Mandela warn of the potential disappearance of the Palestinian territories and called for an end to what they called Israeli “impunity.”

The call from former Ireland president Mary Robinson and former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark comes after they visited Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Lebanon.

They say in a statement that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was seeking “to make Palestine disappear physically, economically, culturally and politically.”

Speaking to journalists in Jerusalem on Thursday, they said the international community must do more to end Israeli “impunity” in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which Palestinians seek as the future capital of a sovereign state.

“I think if we were to summarize the key message that we’ve heard across civil society, both in the West Bank and here, as to what are they looking for, it’s accountability and no impunity,” said Clark.

Robinson said she was “ashamed” that the European Union had not taken a firmer stance on the issue, calling for Brussels to suspend the trade component of its association agreement with Israel and to ban the trade of products from Israeli settlements.

The two leaders said they had observed a severe deterioration of the situation in the West Bank since a previous mission in 2023.

The two former leaders warned that continued settlement expansion would result in “Palestine disappearing before our eyes.”

During their visit, the two former leaders met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

“We disagreed on a number of points,” said Robinson.

Herzog’s office tells The Times of Israel that he held a respectful, candid, and open discussion” with the group, and “categorically rejected their one-sided criticism of Israel’s conduct during this war—a multi-front war that was forced upon Israel by Iran’s Empire of Evil.”

“He strongly emphasized Israel’s right to self-defense and affirmed that Israel has acted and continues to act in accordance with international law,” says the President’s Residence, adding that he emphasized that “Israel was the only democracy in the region and was currently in an election campaign, and called on the group and the entire international community to respect Israel’s democratic processes and debate.”

Herzog also stressed to the importance of international organizations understanding Israel’s pain and trauma since October 7th.

“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 7th,” his office says.