What would it take for Singapore to recognise a Palestinian state?

Singapore will reconsider its position on recognising a Palestinian state if the situation continues to deteriorate, or if Israel takes further steps to extinguish a two-state solution, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan has said.

Singapore has always supported a negotiated two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

“We will recognise the State of Palestine when it has an effective government that accepts Israel’s right to exist and categorically renounces terrorism,” Balakrishnan said in his ministerial statement on Monday.

This comes as Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal recognised a Palestinian state on Sunday, in a move borne out of frustration over the Gaza war and intended to promote a two-state solution, prompting a furious response from Israel.

The decision by four nations from the West aligned them with more than 140 other countries also backing the Palestinians’ aspiration to forge an independent homeland from the occupied territories.