I bet Netanyahu will not give in to the EU bully.
Solana warns Netanyahu not to drop two-state solution
Top EU official insists bloc could re-evaluate relations with Israel
Before heading into a meeting of European Union foreign ministers on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana insisted that the 37-nation alliance would seriously consider a re-evaluation of its relations with Israel if incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu fails to pursue a two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Solana said the EU would "be ready to do business as usual, normally, with a government in Israel that will continue talking for a two-state solution. If that's not the case, the situation will be different."
The day before, he told reporters in even less ambiguous language that, "The way the European Union will relate to an [Israeli] government that is not committed to a two-state solution will be very, very different."
In response, Netanyahu adviser Zalman Shoval, a former ambassador to the US, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that the incoming government headed by Netanyahu did not plan any big changes.
"The European Union and this government are going to get along very well, given that most of the countries in Europe today are under leaderships who are basically friendly to Israel," he said. "I do not foresee any major problems. We are definitely going to continue political talks," he added, but said that a "two-state solution should not be regarded as an ideology or a mantra, but as a formula which has to be judged according to its practical ability. We do hope that the European Union will regard any possible solution in a pragmatic way, without preconceived ideas."
www.icej.org
Solana warns Netanyahu not to drop two-state solution
Top EU official insists bloc could re-evaluate relations with Israel
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Solana said the EU would "be ready to do business as usual, normally, with a government in Israel that will continue talking for a two-state solution. If that's not the case, the situation will be different."
The day before, he told reporters in even less ambiguous language that, "The way the European Union will relate to an [Israeli] government that is not committed to a two-state solution will be very, very different."
In response, Netanyahu adviser Zalman Shoval, a former ambassador to the US, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that the incoming government headed by Netanyahu did not plan any big changes.
"The European Union and this government are going to get along very well, given that most of the countries in Europe today are under leaderships who are basically friendly to Israel," he said. "I do not foresee any major problems. We are definitely going to continue political talks," he added, but said that a "two-state solution should not be regarded as an ideology or a mantra, but as a formula which has to be judged according to its practical ability. We do hope that the European Union will regard any possible solution in a pragmatic way, without preconceived ideas."
www.icej.org
