2023-09-19 18:20:50
The Minister of Foreign Affairs participated in the launch of the “Peace Day Effort”, a Middle East peace initiative led by the EU, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League.
Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib (MR) participated in a meeting, Monday in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, between the European Union (EU), Saudi Arabia and the Arab League aiming to relaunch the peace process between Israel and Palestine. The participants agreed to meet once more every three months, in order to realize this initiative called “Peace Day Effort”. Their first working meeting will take place in Brussels.
“We continue to advocate for a two-state solution.”
“We discussed with regional partners the best way to restart peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine,” said Hadja Lahbib. “We continue to advocate for a two-state solution,” she said.
The Liberal minister counts use the Belgian presidency of the Council of the EUwhich takes place in the first half of 2024, to promote the “Peace Day Effort” and encourage the peace process in the Middle East.
“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is dangerously deteriorating. With our initiative, we want to support the path towards comprehensive peace between Israel and Palestine,” said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell.
Neither Israel nor Palestine are included, at this stage, in the process. “We decided that the two parties would not, initially, be at the negotiating table,” continued Hadja Lahbib.
Tensions between Israel and Belgium
It is not certain that the initiative will succeed in convincing the Israeli government. Strong tensions recently erupted between Belgium and Israel following the statements of the Minister of Development Cooperation, Caroline Gennez (Vooruit)who had announced his intention to redirect aid from Belgian humanitarian NGOs towards “forgotten conflicts”, referring to Palestine.
“In the occupied Palestinian territories, for example, the situation is becoming untenable. Entire villages are being wiped off the map by the Israelis,” she told the daily De Morgen. These comments provoked anger in Israel. The Belgian ambassador to Israel was reprimanded by the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Israeli ambassador to Belgium was then summoned by the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs. “We explained ourselves,” said Hadja Lahbib. “We are involved in the process. We are working towards a common European position because the EU is divided on this issue,” she concluded.
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