BICOM

During a trip to Europe, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians, after several European governments had expressed their opposition towards West Bank construction plans announced by his government last week.

Israeli envoys in five European countries were officially rebuked earlier this week following a decision by the Israeli government to authorise building in East Jerusalem and large existing communities in the West Bank. Particular objections were raised over plans for development in an area known as E1, situated on the northern outskirts of Jerusalem, which is considered important to the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state.

Assuaging the European concerns, on a visit to the Czech capital Prague, Netanyahu said “We remain committed to a negotiated settlement between us and our Palestinian neighbours…That solution is a two-state solution for two peoples, a peace in which a demilitarized Palestinian state recognizes the one and only Jewish state of Israel.”

Netanyahu continued on his trip to the German capital Berlin, where he met Chancellor Angela Merkel. In an interview with German daily Die Welt, he addressed the issue of construction at E1, noting that every Israeli prime minister since Yitzhak Rabin has planned on incorporating the area into Israel as part of a final peace agreement. He said, “We’re talking about an area that is one mile, two miles wide, that connects Jerusalem to a suburb that in all peace plans will remain part of the State of Israel in any agreement.”

However, according to a report in this morning’s Israeli daily Maariv, the European Union (EU) will look to agree on measures in response to Israel’s construction plans at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels next Monday. According to the report, the options, which were apparently discussed in preliminary talks in May, include the marking and possible boycott of goods produced in the West Bank.