EU's Mogherini: Abandoning Two-state Solution Will Deepen Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, said Tuesday that abandoning the two-state solution for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would deepen the chaos in Israel and the entire Middle East.

During a discussion in the European Parliament on the possible annexation by Israel of the West Bank and the United States’ recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Mogherini said, “ The two-state solution is not only fading away. It is being dismantled piece by piece.” She added that the EU and the Arab League both agreed on this position.

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At the end of last month Mogherini said that the 28 EU member states were unanimously opposed to recognizing Israeli sovereignty on the Golan Heights. “The position of the European Union as regards [to] the status of the Golan Heights has not changed,” her statement said. “In line with the international law and UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 497, the European Union does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.”

On the eve of the elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Channel 12 News that he had discussed with the United States the possibility of annexing the Etzion Bloc south of Jerusalem. “We will begin to extend Israeli sovereignty gradually in the areas of Judea and Samaria,” he said. “I do not distinguish between settlement blocs and isolated settlements; every such community is Israeli as far as I’m concerned. We are responsible for them and I will not give them to the Palestinians.” Nevertheless, during his terms as prime minister he has scuttled any efforts to pass legislation to this effect.