BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday appealed to European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to lend European support to the efforts of US Secretary of State John Kerry to kick-start peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

Following a meeting between the two in Jerusalem yesterday, Netanyahu said “Secretary Kerry is undertaking an effort to resume direct negotiations without preconditions between the parties… Israel is ready to resume these talks without preconditions today, yesterday and tomorrow. I hope that President Abbas will do the same, and I hope that Europe will support this effort because it’s the right thing to do.”

Ashton responded with assurances, saying that she is “fully supportive” of Kerry’s initiative. She added, “I said this in Ramallah last night, I say it here in Jerusalem, that we want this to be the way forward, to bring direct negotiations and Europe will support that wholeheartedly.”

According to Haaretz, Netanyahu’s appeal to Ashton was made with a meeting of the 27 EU foreign ministers on Monday in mind, during which they are expected to issue a joint statement which is likely to be critical of Israeli settlement construction, discuss the labelling of West Bank goods and lay out principles for resolving the conflict. According to the report, Netanyahu told Ashton that the timing of the announcement will harm Kerry’s efforts, as he is set to arrive in the region next Thursday. While Netanyahu has repeatedly called for a resumption of talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) without pre-conditions, PA President Abbas insists that Israel must first agree to provisos, primarily a freeze on all settlement construction. Netanyahu is apparently concerned that Monday’s EU announcement will encourage Abbas to maintain his position.

Netanyahu also appealed to Ashton for EU consensus to officially list Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation, with a UK-led proposal to take such action currently under discussion.