“It’s nice to see the United Nations, any of them, doing anything. That’s an accomplishment. But I think it’s useless. It doesn’t help,” Barrack told The National when asked about countries formally recognizing Palestine.
“When we say peace, it's an illusion ... "There's never been peace [in the Middle East],” Barrack said in an exclusive interview.
“There will probably never be peace because everybody's fighting for legitimacy ... I think there've been 27 ceasefires. None of them work.”
Barrack's statements come as dozens of leaders gather on Monday for the High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, convened by France and Saudi Arabia ahead of the 80th UN General Assembly.
On Sunday, Canada, Australia, Portugal, and the UK recognized the State of Palestine. New Zealand and Liechtenstein are also expected to recognize a Palestinian state at the conference. To date, 151 UN member-states have recognized the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state.
Since the start of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, the US, Israel's main ally, has vetoed all international efforts to stop the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, vetoing six UNSC resolutions calling for a ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Hamas.
In tandem, the Trump administration has endorsed Prime Minister Netanyahu's expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to cement his plan to annex the territories.
In the interview, Barrack, who serves as US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria and Lebanon, also defended Israel’s strikes against various countries across the Middle East.
“In general, after October 7, everything has changed in the Middle East. And Bibi Netanyahu will tell you he’s not concerned about borders. If he feels that his borders or his people are being threatened, he will go anywhere and do anything, full stop,” he said.
He also discussed the Israeli strike on the Hamas ceasefire negotiating team in the Qatari capital of Doha on 9 September, which triggered regional and global condemnation.
“It was not good. Qatar has been a great and valued ally to us since day one. And the Israelis didn’t tell us what they were planning,” Barrack said.
Despite this, Barrack insisted the strike had not caused lasting damage to US–Gulf ties and noted that it was Washington that had originally requested Qatar to host Hamas and Taliban officials.
He admitted he does not agree “with a lot of things” Israel does, but added, “I have respect for them because they tell you exactly what’s going to happen.”
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