Sunday

4th Jun 2023

Ashton in bid to save Middle East peace process

  • Israeli soldiers at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem (Photo: Flickmor)

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton has launched a bold initiative to avert a potentially explosive dispute at the UN in September.

The EU official in a letter over the weekend said the Quartet - the EU, Russia, the UN and the US - should hold a high-level meeting before the summer which spells out that Israel must pull back to its 1967 borders in return for security guarantees from the Palestinian side.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The move is designed to give Palestinians an incentive to put aside plans to seek full UN recognition in September, a move which could split the EU into pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian camps and damage EU-US relations.

Ashton's letter - addressed to UN chief Ban Ki Moon, US secretary of state Hilary Clinton and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, and seen by the Israeli daily Haaretz - says: "I believe that what is needed now is a clear signal to the parties, and a reference framework that should enable them to return to the negotiating table."

It adds that the Arab Spring "makes it even more urgent to find a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

"This is no time for unilateral moves on either side, since this could lead to escalation ... It is critical we make a gesture before the summer, because we need to contribute to a calming of a volatile situation that promises to be even more so as the year progresses."

A French diplomat said Ashton's initiative was made "in co-ordination" with Paris, which earlier this month called for a top-level Middle East peace conference to be held in Paris in July.

Apart from the dynamics in the region, Ashton is keen to score points in EU capitals in order to keep her job .

EU diplomats say that when EU President Herman Van Rompuy's mandate comes up for renewal in mid-2012, questions will be asked on whether Ashton has done enough to merit staying in her post for the full five years until 2014.

"She needs 'deliverables' in the next four to six months, specifically playing a positive and visible role on the EU position on Palestine in September," one EU contact noted.

US President Barack Obama himself in a speech in May said a two-state solution should be based on 1967 lines with land-swaps and security guarantees. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat at a meeting in the Brookings Institute, a think-tank in Washington, earlier this month said that talks based on 1967 lines could see the UN plan put to one side.

The US has begun to row back on the idea after it was rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however.

For his part, Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesday called the Ashton plan "naive", saying she should concentrate on bigger events unfolding in Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen instead.

"This is an attempt to distort the international community's correct set of priorities," he told Israel's Army Radio. "The attempt to give top priority to the Palestinian issue is naive."

Opinion

How the EU's money for waste went to waste in Lebanon

The EU led support for the waste management crisis in Lebanon, spending around €89m between 2004-2017, with at least €30m spent on 16 solid-waste management facilities. However, it failed to deliver.

Latest News

  1. Spanish PM to delay EU presidency speech due to snap election
  2. EU data protection chief launches Frontex investigation
  3. Madrid steps up bid to host EU anti-money laundering hub
  4. How EU leaders should deal with Chinese government repression
  5. MEPs pile on pressure for EU to delay Hungary's presidency
  6. IEA: World 'comfortably' on track for renewables target
  7. Europe's TV union wooing Lavrov for splashy interview
  8. ECB: eurozone home prices could see 'disorderly' fall

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us