EU foreign ministers reiterated the EU position that the lands Israel has occupied since a 1967 war — including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights — are not part of the internationally recognized borders of Israel.
BRUSSELS — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday urged the European Union to follow US President Donald Trump’s lead and recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but EU ministers shook their heads at Trump’s move.
Netanyahu, arriving for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, said Trump’s move made peace in the Middle East possible “because recognizing reality is the substance of peace, the foundation of peace.”
But even Israel’s closest European allies such as the Czech Republic warned Trump’s decision was bad for peace efforts, while France insisted Jerusalem’s status could only be agreed in a final deal between Israelis and Palestinians.
Asked by reporters about Trump’s decision to switch the US Embassy to Jerusalem, Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said: “I’m afraid it can’t help us.”
EU foreign ministers reiterated the EU position that the lands Israel has occupied since a 1967 war — including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights — are not part of the internationally recognized borders of Israel.
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“I’m convinced that it is impossible to ease tension with a unilateral solution,” Zaoralek said as he and his counterparts arrived for a breakfast with Netanyahu.
“We are talking about an Israeli state but at the same time we have to speak about a Palestinian state.”
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian urged Washington to come forward with peace plans that are being drawn up by Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s Middle East envoy, and Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.
“We’ve been waiting already for several months for the American initiative, and if one is not forthcoming that the European Union will have to take the initiative,” Le Drian said.
The EU believes it has a duty to make its voice heard as the Palestinians’ biggest aid donor and Israel’s biggest trade partner, even if EU governments have varying degrees of sympathy towards Israel and the Palestinians.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, welcoming Netanyahu on the first visit to the EU by an Israeli premier in 22 years, that the bloc would continue to recognize the “international consensus” on Jerusalem.
She repeated the Union’s commitment to a two-state solution and that it was in Israel’s interest to find a sustainable solution to its conflict with the Palestinians. The EU, she said, would step up its peace efforts and would hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas next month. — Reuters
