EU Urges Israel not to Abandon Two-State Solution

Reuters - Gaza, March 27, 2009 (Pal Telegraph) – European Union officials urged the Israeli Prime Minister-designate Netanyahu on Friday to accept the two-state solution, as the goal of the Middle East peace process.

German Foreign Minister Frank Steinmeier said: "We Europeans are insisting that whatever the weighting is in the two governments (Israeli and Palestinian), the creation of a two-state solution must stand first and foremost."

"We should not always have to start from the beginning again -- that is my urgent appeal," he told reporters at talks with EU counterparts in the Czech Republic.

Speaking after EU talks, Luxembourg Foreign Minsiter Asselborn, said a long-mooted upgrading of EU-Israeli trade and political ties depended on Israel achieving a peace deal with the Palestinians.

"We must tell the Israelis that it is not allowed to walk away from the peace process... The upgrading process was always to be viewed from the perspective of the peace process having been completed," Asselborn told reporters.

The EU officials, after the Israeli latest offensive on Gaza, urged Israel to re-open border crossings into the Gaza Strip, asserting that reconstruction without lifting the blockade is useless.

Netanyahu, who was recommended by the majority of the parties for the premiership, plans to present his new coalition government for parliamentary approval next week.

Ibrahim Abu Sobeih, PT Reporter in Gaza