Select a language
Seeking to head off the unilateral Palestinian plan to secure state recognition at the UN in September, the EU is calling for an “urgent convening” of the Middle East Quartet to establish an international peace plan, reports Tel Aviv daily Ha’aretz. Almost one month after Barack Obama declared that the prevailing borders before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war should be the basis of an Israel--Palestine deal, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has written a letter, a copy of which has been obtained by Haaretz, to US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton endorsing the US president’s proposals. President Obama “laid down two important elements that can be the basis for a resumption of negotiations: Borders based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, and firm security guarantees."
In her letter, drafted in co-ordination with France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain, she also rejected the Palestinian initiative, writing - “This is no time for unilateral moves on either side, since this could lead to escalation.” Uppermost in Lady Ashton’s mind are the democratic uprisings in the Middle East which make a deal more urgent “because we need to contribute to a calming of a volatile situation that promises to be even more so as the year progresses." According to Ha’aretz, “Secretary of State Clinton and the U.S. administration are not enamored of Ashton's initiative at this point”, as they “prefer to secure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's support for renewed negotiations with the Palestinians.”
A conversation with investigative reporters Stefano Valentino and Giorgio Michalopoulos, who have dissected the dark underbelly of green finance for Voxeurop and won several awards for their work.
Go to the event >