The Quartet, with the EU as one of the principles, called on “both parties to refrain from actions that undermine trust or prejudge final status issues” while covertly the EU funded 400 Palestinian homes built illegally, in 17 locations in areas of the West Bank under Israeli control, recognized by Oslo Accords and int’l law.
The Mideast Quartet principals met in Munich for the first time in a year on Sunday and came out against unilateral Palestinian efforts to get the international community to impose a solution on Israel.
Without mentioning the recent Palestinian efforts specifically, including the failed effort at the end of December to pass a UN Security Council resolution that would have called for a full Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 lines within three years, a statement issued at the end of the meeting said that sustainable peace requires negotiations.
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The meeting, which included US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, and UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson, took place against the backdrop of sharp tensions between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the White House over the premier’s scheduled speech to Congress on March 3.
The Quartet meeting took place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, and was the first Quartet meeting at the level of foreign ministers since the Munich conference last year. Quartet envoys, however, have met since then, most recently in Brussels in late January.
Following the meeting, the Quartet released a statement saying that “a sustainable peace requires the Palestinians’ aspirations for statehood and sovereignty and those of Israelis for security to be fulfilled through negotiations based on the two-state solution.”
While the resolution the resolution the Palestinians brought to the UNSC in December would have contradicted UN Security Council resolution 242, which never called for a full return to the pre-1967 lines, the Quartet statement reiterated that a negotiations toward a “lasting and comprehensive peace” be based on “UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, the Madrid Principles including land for peace and the agreements previously reached between the parties.”
The statement mentioned the “vital role” of Arab partners in reaching a comprehensive peace, and said it will “remain actively engaged in preparing for a resumption of the peace process in the coming period, including regular and direct outreach to Arab states.”
Pending the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, broke off nearly a year ago and not expected to resume until at least after a new government is set up in Israel in the Spring, the Quartet called on “both parties to refrain from actions that undermine trust or prejudge final status issues.”
This is widely believed to refer both to Israeli settlement actions and Palestinian steps in the international community.
The statement also expressed deep concern over the situation in Gaza, and urged the donor countries to disburse the funds that they promised last October.
View original The Jerusalem Post publication at: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Quartet-takes-stand-against-Palestinian-efforts-to-impose-statehood-on-Israel-390382