The outlook for peace in the Middle East and recreating the conditions for a return to the negotiating table for Israelis and Palestinians. These were the topics on the agenda not just of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council but also of the parliamentary debate in Italy.
At the Council in Brussels, attended by Minister Giulio Terzi, the European foreign ministers invited the parties to “engage in direct and substantial negotiations without preconditions in order to achieve a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”. To this end, the EU is ready to work with the US and other international partners, including within the Quartet.
There will be no sustainable peace until the Palestinians’ aspirations for statehood and sovereignty and those of Israelis for security are fulfilled through a comprehensive negotiated peace based on the two-state solution. The European Union calls on the Palestinian leadership to use constructively its new status as United Nations observer state and not to undertake steps which would deepen the lack of trust and lead further away from a negotiated solution for peace with Israel.
Italy’s carefully considered “yes”
Speaking at a hearing before the Chamber of Deputies Foreign Affairs Commission, Minister Terzi explained Italy’s “yes” vote at the UN on non-member-state status for Palestine, underscoring that the decision had been carefully considered. The government’s decision, he added, was the result of consultations between Prime Minister Monti and the leading authorities of the state and with the political forces of the majority. The latter had been able to express their opinions through their leaders.
The EU’s common goal
The foreign minister underlined that the European Union’s common political goal is to see the Israeli-Palestinian peace process reactivated “rapidly”, even though the vote on the Palestinian National Authority’s status at the UN was not unanimous. “The different voting positions responded to the national positions at the time”, explained Terzi. “This notwithstanding, the European Union’s position is utterly unified and consistent in its political goal of seeing the peace process rapidly resume. This must happen in a dimension that reflects the fundamental principles, which are: peace between Israel and the countries of the region, the security of Israel and its people; and the Palestinian process of creating a state that is effective in sustaining its territorial sovereignty but which has also solved all the problems with its Israeli counterparty”.
“Rock-solid” friendship with Israel
“The friendship between Italy and Israel rests on rock-solid foundations that will never be shaken”, said Minister Terzi as he presented the Italian-Israeli Foundation for Culture and the Arts at the Farnesina. Italy “will always stand at Israel’s side, as is evidenced by our inexhaustible commitment to defending the right of the Jewish people to exist in peace and security”, he added. The Minister underscored Italy and Israel’s shared values, based on democracy and human rights.
