La Chancelière allemande Angela Merkel, le 19 mars 2017 à Hanovre
In a meeting with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, German chancellor Angela Merkel stated that she sees “no reasonable alternative” to the two-state solution, raising concerns over the lack of progress made in renewing the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
“As before, I see no reasonable alternative to the goal of a two-state solution,” Merkel said to reporters prior to the talks in Berlin.
“Both the Israeli and the Palestinian people have the right to live in peace and security and none of the other options can deliver that credibly,” she added, according to Reuters.
Merkel also warned that in the absence of a two-state solution, Israel would not be able to remain both “a Jewish and a democratic state”, Germany’s DPA news agency reported.
She also criticized the Palestinian Authority for using international forums to “unilaterally denounce” Israel, asserting that their actions were also contributing to the lack of progress in moving toward a two-state solution.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas speaks during a joint statement with French President following their meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on February 7, 2017Stephane DE SAKUTIN (AFP)
Abbas reiterated the Palestinians’ support for a two-state solution, calling the alternative one-state “apartheid.”
Merkel’s clear support for the two-state solution came in stark contrast to comments made by US president Donald Trump who, in a February meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, broke with decades of US policy by suggesting he was not bound to a two-state solution, and was open to one-state if it meant peace.
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Categories: Germany, Israel, Judaism, Palestine, The Muslim Times
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