EU, Arab states launch initiative to kickstart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
'There is no way to resolve the conflict other than by ensuring the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,' Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister said.
The European Union and a number of Arab states unveiled a new initiative to kickstart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
The “Peace Day Effort” initiative, backed by EU, the Arab League, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, was presented on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.
Three working groups will now focus on different issues in the initiative, such as security cooperation mechanisms, economic cooperation, investment, innovation and humanitarian issues.
The final “Peace Supporting Package” is expected to be unveiled in September 2024.
EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell said that the world can’t “stay idle repeating the mantra of the two-state solutions without doing all we can to get it. The result of the meeting is a stronger commitment by many people to engage more on this two-state solution, which is the only viable solution.”
Borrell stressed that there is “there is not a viable other solution” than the two-state solution.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud echoed Borrell, saying that “there is no way to resolve the conflict other than by ensuring the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been frozen 2014 when an attempt by the Obama administration failed to bring about any results.
President Trump also attempted launch a peace initiative in 2020, which was immediately rejected by the Palestinians.
Israeli governments in recent years have outright rejected the idea of a Palestinian state, while Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich went as far as to deny the very existence of a Palestinian people earlier this year.
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