EU Foreign Policy Chief Borell says no alternative but two-state solution after war
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to an internationally backed two-state solution, arguing that there is no alternative after the war between Israel and the Hamas terror organization in Gaza ends.
"Which are the other solutions they have in mind? To make all the Palestinians leave? To kill off them?" Borell asked rhetorically while addressing EU foreign ministers.
"What we want to do is to build a two-state solution. So let's talk about it," the foreign policy chief added, but did not address that both Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Judea and Samaria have rejected previous proposals and deny the Jewish state’s right to exist.
Borell criticized Israel’s defensive military operation in Gaza by stressing that "peace and stability cannot be built only by military means."
The EU’s top diplomat echoed UN Sec.-Gen. António Guterres, who on Saturday claimed it was “unacceptable” to reject a two-state solution.
“The refusal to accept a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and the denial of the right to statehood for the Palestinian people, are unacceptable,” Guterres said during a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Saturday. “The right of the Palestinian people to build their own state must be recognized by all,” he added.
Borrell is a vocal critic of the Jewish state and recently repeated the popular conspiracy theory, stating: “Hamas was financed by the Israeli government in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority,” according to the Spanish newspaper El País.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied these claims. In December, he vowed that neither Hamas nor Fatah would rule Gaza after the war.
“Gaza will be neither Hamastan nor Fatahstan, Netanyahu pledged.
“After the great sacrifice of our civilians and our soldiers, I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism," the prime minister added.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
