BRUSSELS: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that recognizing Jerusalem as his country’s capital “makes peace possible,” after widespread international criticism of the US decision to do so.
US President Donald Trump’s announcement last week has been followed by days of protests and clashes in the Palestinian territories, as well as demonstrations across the Islamic world.
The EU expressed alarm at the decision, which upends seven decades of US policy on the disputed holy city, and the bloc’s foreign ministers are set to urge Netanyahu to resume dialogue with the Palestinians as he meets them over breakfast in Brussels.
The Israeli premier said what Trump had done was to “put facts squarely on the table” by acknowledging Jerusalem had been the capital of the Israeli state for 70 years and of the Jewish people for 3,000 years.
“It doesn’t obviate peace, it makes peace possible, because recognizing reality is the substance of peace, it’s the foundation of peace,” he said in a statement alongside EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini.
Mogherini, who last week warned the Jerusalem decision could take the situation “backwards to even darker times,” restated the EU’s position that a two-state solution with Jerusalem as capital for both Israelis and Palestinians was the only sustainable way to resolve the conflict.
Netanyahu pointed to a new US peace initiative as a possible way forward.
“There is now an effort under way to bring forward a new peace proposal by the American administration. I think we should give peace a chance. I think we should see what is presented and see if we can advance this peace,” he said.
Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working with a small team to develop a new US proposal to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, but it is not clear what progress he is making.
Netanyahu’s visit to Brussels comes after he met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Sunday. Macron called on him to freeze settlement building and to re-engage with Palestinians.
Both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital and previous peace plans have stumbled over debates on whether and how to divide sovereignty or oversee holy sites.
Netanyahu sees Europeans following Trump on Jerusalem
Netanyahu sees Europeans following Trump on Jerusalem
Israeli military says missiles launched from Iran toward Israel
- Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported several injuries from the Iranian strikes near Tel Aviv
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Wednesday that it detected missiles heading toward the country from Iran and had activated air defenses, as it pressed a “wave” of strikes against Iran and Lebanon.
“A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military said on its official Telegram account.
AFP journalists heard air raid sirens sounding in Jerusalem and the sound of explosions in the distance.
A short time later, Israel’s military said it was permitted to leave shelters.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services reported no immediate injuries following the missile fire, but said its teams were treating “a small number of people who were injured on their way to protected areas.”
Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported several injuries from the Iranian strikes near Tel Aviv.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted a satellite communications center in Haifa, along with military bases in Israel, and US targets elsewhere in the Middle East including Iraqi Kurdistan and the US Fifth Fleet naval base in Bahrain.
“We will continue our sustained attacks with purpose and power, and in this war, we contemplate nothing but the enemy’s complete surrender,” the Guards said on their website Sepah News.
