Israelis and Palestinians could join Commonwealth

The Commonwealth is planning to increase its membership for the first time in more than a decade, with Israel and the Palestinian territories among those that could join.

Don McKinnon, the secretary-general, is leading the push for new member states. The Queen, the formal head of the Commonwealth, is said to be enthusiastic.

P J Patterson, the former prime minister of Jamaica, was the chairman of a confidential meeting of a new committee in London this month to consider new members. Its report will be put to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Kampala, Uganda, next year.

Mr McKinnon, from New Zealand, said: "With growing interest from many countries, including outstanding applications to join, it is time to look again at the issue of membership and how the Commonwealth interacts with non-members." It is understood that those interested in joining also include Rwanda, Yemen, Somalia and Algeria.

The Commonwealth is an association of 53 independent states. Its 1.8 billion citizens — about 30 per cent of the world's population — are drawn from a broad range of faiths, races and cultures.

Traditionally, it has consisted of states once ruled by Britain and that were willing to accept the Queen as their figurehead. But over the past decade or so, the rules have been gradually relaxed. The last two admissions were Cameroon and Mozambique in 1995: only parts of Cameroon had been under British control, while Mozambique was never under British rule.

At their meeting in Edinburgh in 1997, Commonwealth leaders decided that any future member had to have a "constitutional association" with an existing member state, not just Britain.

A senior Commonwealth source said: "Many people have assumed an interest from Israel, but there has been no formal approach. There has also been an oral inquiry from Algeria, but no written application. We hope the new committee will look at a whole range of issues relating to new membership."

A senior official said: "The Queen is a great supporter of the Commonwealth but, being the Queen, she will be very careful not to say anything on which countries should join. Any new member will have to be accepted by all members."

Andrew Roberts, the author of A History Of The English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900, said: "We should think carefully about what the Commonwealth means before we allow just anyone to join. It should mean a connection with the British Crown however historical, and an appreciation of the political culture of the English-speaking peoples. And that seems to be lacking in every country [that would like to join] apart from Israel."