West Jerusalem, Israel – Two blocks from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in West Jerusalem, where Balfour and Gaza Streets meet behind layers of steel barricades and weekly pro-hostage rallies, a tiny cornerside cafe, oddly unnamed and half-hidden, buzzed with mid-morning chatter.
As phones lit up with news that United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer had announced formal recognition of a Palestinian state, a few patrons looked up, while others shrugged.
“Of course I’m angry,” said Shira Hazan, 55, a shop owner and longtime supporter of Netanyahu’s Likud party. “But what changes? Britain doesn’t bury our soldiers. It’s just politics while Iran is shooting at us.”
A man sitting next to her, like most of those at the cafe, waved the headline off with a flick of the han