The head of European diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, rebuffed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposition that the European Union should join the United States in recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.
Mr. Netanyahu commented regarding the US move that the recognition had “put facts squarely on the table”. When he arrived in Brussels for diplomatic talks he said that he expected “all or most” EU members to follow the US but Federica Mogherini replied bluntly, telling him to “keep his expectations for other”, reaffirming that there would be no change to the EU’s stance to Jerusalem.
The EU leaders, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, condemned US President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, which triggered protests across the Arab world and prompted the leaders of extremist organizations to call for an intifada and attacks on American targets and those of their allies.
According to Mr. Netanyahu though, the decision “doesn’t obviate peace, it makes peace possible, because recognizing reality is the substance of peace, it’s the foundation of peace”. I believe that all or most of the European countries will move their embassies to Jerusalem, recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and engage robustly with us for security, prosperity and peace,” he said.
The White House’s decision abruptly changed decades of international diplomacy and the status quo. Ms. Mogherini is of the opinion that the situation could move “backwards to even darker times”, while stressing that “we believe the only realistic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is based on two states with Jerusalem as the capital of both the state of Israel and the state of Palestine.”
