Netanyahu’s formal visit – the first by a sitting Israeli prime minister to the EU in 22 years – comes amid grave concern in European capitals over Donald Trump’s unilateral recognition last week of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The EU would continue to recognise the “international consensus” on Jerusalem, Mogherini said, as she repeated the bloc’s commitment to a two-state solution. The EU, she said, would increase its peace efforts and hold talks with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, next month.
Palestinian officials have called on Europe to take a greater role in the moribund peace process in the wake of the US president’s move, which sparked protests across the Middle East and accusations that the US had abdicated its role as an “honest” mediator.
Netanyahu tried to suggest on Monday that peace between Israelis and Palestinians was now more likely, a view echoed by pro-Israel officials in Trump’s administration but dismissed elsewhere.
“It [Trump’s declaration] makes peace possible because recognising reality is the substance of peace, the foundation of peace,” Netanyahu told reporters before a meeting with EU foreign ministers. “There is now an effort to bring forward a new peace proposal by the American administration. I think we should give peace a chance. I think we should see what is presented and see if we can advance this peace.”
He said all, or most, European countries would move their embassies to Jerusalem and recognise it as Israel’s capital, though there is no evidence that any European country is preparing to do so.
Senior US diplomats are continuing to try to contain the damage caused by Trump’s decision, which upended years of both US diplomacy and international legal consensus.
Asked in a telephone briefing with Gulf-based journalists about whether the president would change his mind, David Satterfield, the assistant secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, said no. He stressed, however, that the developments of the last week did not prejudge the issue of final borders.
“The president’s decision stands. It is, as I said, what the president believes was the right step, at the right moment,” Satterfield said. “The president also said that these measures in no way prejudice the outcome of final status negotiation between Israel and the Palestinians.”
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