The EU foreign policy chief’s office warned that the alliance would not let any Israeli steps aimed at annexing West Bank territories “pass unchallenged” in an apparent jab at the Trump Middle East peace plan.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Josep Borrell also said that some of the plan’s provisions were different from “from internationally agreed upon parameters.”
He urged Israel and the Palestinian factions to avoid taking unilateral actions that could stir the tensions up and called on them to “re-engage.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded that a statement like that, especially coming after Borrell’s visit to Iran, was regrettable and odd, adding that such conduct could only result in less of a role for the EU to play in the process.
The exchange comes ahead of Jared Kushner’s presentation of the plan to the UN Security Council — and amid the outcry from the Palestinians, who rejected the peace plan with “a thousand no’s.”
In Israel, the plan also sent sparks as right-wing leaders called for a immediate annexation of areas on the West Bank, which is something caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to do promptly after the plan’s grand reveal last Tuesday.
However, the announcement apparently left Washington unamused as it urged Israel to hold back on the plan until the March 2 elections, which would, at least hopefully, result in a new government.
This prompted Netanyahu to halt the push for now, resulting in some confusion on wen the security cabinet would vote on the matter – and whether it would do so in the immediate future at all.
