The Israeli Prime Minister is meeting with the Foreign Ministers of the European Union

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting in Brussels today with European Union foreign ministers, five days after Jerusalem was recognized as the capital of Israel by the United States.

During his visit to Brussels, Netanyahu will also meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

During the "informal" breakfast with the Israeli Prime Minister, the EU Foreign Ministers will once again demand "the resumption of serious negotiations" with the representatives of the Palestinians, as stated by the head of the European diplomacy Federica Mogherini.

Mogherini recalled on Friday the EU's firm position on the Middle East: "We are convinced that the only realistic solution is to create two states, Israel and Palestine, with Jerusalem as the capital of the two states on the 1967 border."

According to her, "it is in Israel's interest to find a lasting solution to this conflict, which has been going on for decades."

The EU also wants to take advantage of Netanyahu's visit to express its opposition to the continuation of Jewish settlement.

However, EU foreign ministers will find it difficult to hide deep divisions within the Union, where some countries, such as Hungary, Lithuania and Greece, want to normalize the bloc's difficult relations with Israel.

Hungary blocked a joint decision by 28 member states on Wednesday night condemning Washington's move.

Finally, the EU expressed "serious concern" over the situation through a statement from Mogherini and expressed fears of "implications for the prospect of peace" in the Middle East following the US decision.

Yesterday, Netanyahu met in Paris with French President Emanuel Macron, with the two leaders remaining firm in their views.
Macron also called on the Israeli prime minister, as EU foreign ministers are expected to do today, to restart the peace process with the Palestinians.

"I urge the Prime Minister (of Israel) to take courageous action against the Palestinians in order to end the current stalemate," the French leader told a joint news conference with the two leaders in Paris. of the last hours and days against Israel. "

"It seems to me that starting from the freezing of the settlement activity and taking confidence in the Palestinian Authority, these would be some of the gestures that we referred to with the Prime Minister of Israel, which are important," said Emanuel Macron.

For his part, Netanyahu reiterated in Paris that he was "constantly proposing" to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas "to sit at the negotiating table with Israel," but in vain.

Regarding the wave of protests caused by the Trump decision worldwide, the Israeli Prime Minister commented that his country will not recognize another capital and that the efforts to erase "this connection of centuries" are "absurd".

Another sensitive issue that could be discussed in Brussels is the destruction by Israel of infrastructure in the occupied West Bank, which is intended "for vulnerable Palestinian communities" and is funded by the EU or its member states.