BICOM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday and said Israel will not tolerate an Iranian attempt to establish a military presence in Syria or Iran’s efforts to take control of Lebanon and manufacture large amounts of precision-range missiles aimed at Israel.

At a joint press conference, the two leaders expressed different opinions on US President Trump’s announcement about Jerusalem. Macron said: “These statements do not serve security, especially security of Palestinians and Israelis. I urged the Prime Minister to show courage in his dealings with the Palestinians to get us out of the current dead-end. It seems to me that freezing settlement building and confidence measures with regard to the Palestinian Authority (PA) are important acts to start with”.

Netanyahu responded: “Where else is the capital of Israel but Jerusalem? Paris is the capital of France. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. It’s been the capital of Israel for 3,000 years; it’s been the capital of the State of Israel for 70 years. We respect your history and your choices. and I know that, as friends, you respect ours. And it is also essential for peace. I think that what peace requires is to be built on the foundation of truth, on the facts of the past and on the present. This is the only way that you can build pluralistic and successful future. The sooner the Palestinians come to the realisation [that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital], the sooner we will have peace”.

Netanyahu said the important element to any potential peace deal was for both sides to recognise the other’s right to exist, saying that he sought “to use this growing normalisation with countries in the region to do two things: Isolate the extremists; and second, to create a realism toward peace with the Palestinians. This is called the outside-in strategy”. Netanyahu also praised the value of security cooperation between Israel and the PA.

Netanyahu is meeting European Union foreign ministers in Brussels this morning and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the top of the agenda.

Before the meeting Netanyahu said that “I will not accept a double standard from them. I hear voices condemning Trump [over Jerusalem] but not for rocket fire. I will not accept this hypocrisy. I will represent Israel with my head held high”.

On Saturday night, Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo and urged the United State to abandon its decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In a joint statement they said that “the decision has no legal effect … it deepens tension, ignites anger and threatens to plunge region into more violence and chaos”.