EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini on Wednesday condemned Israel’s plans to build another 500 Jewish homes in Jerusalem, ahead of her first visit to the Jewish state later this week.
Going ahead with the Jewish homes risks undermining efforts to get the Middle East peace process back on track, Mogherini said.
The European Union was leading efforts to get the talks restarted “but this decision represents yet another highly detrimental step which undermines the prospects for a two-state solution,” she said in a statement.
It “seriously calls into question Israel’s commitment to a peaceful negotiated settlement with the Palestinians,” she added.
Voicing a sense of exasperation, Mogherini said that since previous pleas “have gone unheard, I call on the Israeli authorities to reverse (the plans) and put an end to its settlement policy in East Jerusalem and in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria – ed.].”
Mogherini is due to visit Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Gaza and Ramallah on a three-day trip beginning Friday meant to be “a signal of the priority given to the region by the EU,” a spokesperson said earlier this week. Mogherini has also said that she would be “pleased” to see a “Palestinian state” within five years, before the end of her term.
The EU is a major provider of funds for the Palestinian authorities and committed 450 million euros (562 million dollars) to the reconstruction of Gaza at a donor’s conference last month in Cairo.
The bloc has also threatened Israel multiple times to further its agenda in the Middle East, dangling unprecedented aid packages to both Jerusalem and Ramallah if a two-state solution is implemented.
Despite this, it has denied threatening Israel – or promoting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement – on multiple occasions.
The EU took the opportunity to once again threaten Israel last month, saying that the “future of EU-Israel relations” depends on Israel’s “commitment to peace” after Jews moved into apartments legally bought in the neighborhood of Shiloah (Silwan).
