“Impose from outside”
Borrell wants a Palestinian state even against Israel’s wishes
January 19, 2024, 10:25 p.m
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How can Palestinians and Israelis achieve peaceful coexistence and coexistence? This has been discussed for decades amid repression, terror and war. The EU foreign policy chief sees the situation as so entrenched that he wants to force a decision.
In the Middle East conflict, the international community should, according to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, “impose the two-state solution from outside” if necessary, even against Israel’s will. Otherwise, “the spiral of hatred will continue to turn generation after generation,” said Borrell in a speech at the University of Valladolid in Spain, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate.
However, only the day before, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had once again rejected a Palestinian state alongside Israel after the end of the Gaza war. With a view to a two-state solution, which the USA is also calling for, Netanyahu said: “Israel’s prime minister must be able to say ‘no’ when necessary, even to our best friends.”
However, Borrell emphasized that Israelis and Palestinians were no longer capable of compromise. “Those involved are too angry at each other to come to an agreement on their own,” emphasized the EU’s chief diplomat, who appeared at the speech in the university’s traditional costume. He called on the “Arab world, Europe, the USA and the entire United Nations” to recognize the formation of a Palestinian state, even against Israel’s resistance.
The federal government sees no contradiction
The federal government also recently commented on the matter and sees the security claims raised by Israel as no obstacle to the establishment of a Palestinian state. “Israel’s security is compatible with an Israeli and Palestinian state and is not an argument against a Palestinian state,” said deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner.
Both the federal government, the European Union and the USA consider the two-state solution “to be the right perspective for a peaceful future,” Büchner continued. The two-state solution envisages an independent Palestinian state coexisting with Israel.
This is very important as a “concrete perspective for the Palestinians,” said Büchner. Israel’s security could also be secured “sustainably and comprehensively” within the framework of a two-state solution. The federal government has always made it clear to Israel that, from Berlin’s perspective, a negotiated two-state solution remains the only option to enable a life in peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis.
Biden calls Netanyahu on the phone
Meanwhile, according to the White House, US President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and explained to him his vision of a two-state solution. In the conversation on Friday, Biden discussed his idea of lasting peace and security for Israel in the region, said National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby. Although Netanyahu has expressed his concerns, Biden still firmly believes that a two-state solution is the right path.
In his speech at the University of Valladolid, Borrell then accused Israel of having financed the establishment of the Islamist Hamas in order to weaken the more moderate authority of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank and thereby prevent a Palestinian state. Israel’s head of government has repeatedly rejected this accusation, which has already been made by some of his critics.