Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the historical accuracy of Government references to the 1949 Armistice Line between (a) Israel, (b) Egypt, (c) Jordan, (d) Lebanon and (e) Syria as the 1967 borders.

In 1950, on de jure recognition to the State of Israel, Her Majesty's Government noted that they could not regard the present boundaries between Israel, and Egypt, Jordan, Syria and the Lebanon as constituting the definitive frontiers of Israel, as these boundaries were laid down in the Armistice Agreements. As such they were subject to any modifications which could be agreed upon under the terms of those Agreements, or of any final settlements which may replace them. Following Israel's occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza and the Golan Heights in 1967, we distinguish between the State of Israel within the pre-1967 lines and the territories occupied since 1967. It has been the position of every UK Government since 1967 that the these territories were not lawfully part of the State of Israel at its creation or at any point thereafter. We are clear that the permanent borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state should be based on the 1967 lines, with mutually-agreed land swaps to reflect the interests of the Jewish and Palestinian peoples. The final status of these borders must be determined by the parties.