Contacts were initiated at the Munich Security Conference to draft a European-Arab initiative to replace US President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century”, Israeli news reports revealed Monday.
According to the Maariv newspaper, the initiative started to take shape during a meeting between the French, German, Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers held on the sidelines of the security conference in Germany last week.
It was later discussed at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers on Monday.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported that Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn has already discussed the initiative with the foreign ministers of Ireland, France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, Malta and Slovenia.
Israeli political sources have expressed their concern over the European initiative and were working on thwarting it. Messages have been sent to countries that may support it, saying that “now is not the time for the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state” because that would undermine holding direct negotiations between the two sides over a final settlement.
Furthermore, the Israel Hayom daily, which is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reported that Israeli ambassadors in Europe have been asked to exert pressure on the foreign ministries of the countries where they are posted to refrain from rejecting Trump’s plan entirely and from harshly criticizing it. It said that European opposition will only encourage the Palestinians to reject the proposal.
The Palestinian Authority has already vehemently rejected the Trump plan.
On Monday, Representative of the Palestinian embassy in Brussels Adel Attiya said that EU foreign ministers agreed to discuss the bloc’s strategic vision in light of the US peace plan and the means to revive the International Quartet committee expected to convene next month.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said his country is ready to support peace efforts based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions and negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis based on a two-state solution.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said his country wants the conflict to end.
“We warn against the terrible consequences of any unilateral measure that would seek to create new facts on the ground that would make it impossible for us to move forward,” he said.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh urged the European ministers not to leave a vacuum but rather to support the Palestinian proposal for an international conference that would focus on salvaging a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 lines.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
