The European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini assured President Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting in Brussels on Monday that the EU supported his ambition to have East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.

 Abbas in return repeated his call for East Jerusalem as capital as he urged the EU member nations to recognize state of Palestine immediately, arguing that this would not disrupt negotiations with Israel on a peace settlement for the region.

 Mogherini, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, called on those involved in the process to speak and act “wisely,” with a sense of responsibility.

 Abbas made no reference to Trump’s move on Jerusalem or to comments on the issue made on Monday in Jerusalem by US Vice President Mike Pence.

 The European Union’s top diplomat said EU foreign ministers will study ways to support a two-state solution in Israel and the Palestinian territories in talks Monday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

 Federica Mogherini said that the EU is working “to support an international framework to accompany direct negotiations” despite the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

 Mogherini told reporters that “clearly there is a problem with Jerusalem. I would say that this is a very diplomatic euphemism.”

 She said “the only pragmatic, realistic solution for Jerusalem has to come through direct negotiations.”—Reuters </s> BRUSSELS - The European Union's foreign policy chief assured President Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting in Brussels on Monday that the EU supported his ambition to have east Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.



Abbas in return repeated his call for east Jerusalem as capital as he urged the EU member nations to recognize a state of Palestine immediately, arguing that this would not disrupt negotiations with Israel on a peace settlement for the region.



Mogherini, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, called on those involved in the process to speak and act "wisely", with a sense of responsibility.



Abbas made no reference to Trump's move on Jerusalem or to comments on the issue made on Monday in Jerusalem by US Vice President Mike Pence. </s> BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's foreign policy chief assured President Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting in Brussels on Monday that the EU supported his ambition to have East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.

Abbas in return repeated his call for East Jerusalem as capital as he urged the EU member nations to recognize a state of Palestine immediately, arguing that this would not disrupt negotiations with Israel on a peace settlement for the region.

Mogherini, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, called on those involved in the process to speak and act "wisely", with a sense of responsibility.

Abbas made no reference to Trump's move on Jerusalem or to comments on the issue made on Monday in Jerusalem by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. </s> BRUSSELS, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The European Union's foreign policy chief assured President Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting in Brussels on Monday that the EU supported his ambition to have East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.

Abbas in return repeated his call for East Jerusalem as capital as he urged the EU member nations to recognise a state of Palestine immediately, arguing that this would not disrupt negotiations with Israel on a peace settlement for the region.

Mogherini, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, called on those involved in the process to speak and act "wisely", with a sense of responsibility.

Abbas made no reference to Trump's move on Jerusalem or to comments on the issue made on Monday in Jerusalem by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. (Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; @macdonaldrtr; editing by Philip Blenkinsop) </s> European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini addresses a joint news conference with Libya's Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj (unseen) at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

BRUSSELS/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The European Union's foreign policy chief and the United Nations secretary-general on Tuesday criticized an Israeli move to legalize thousands of settler homes on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.

The EU's Federica Mogherini said that the law, if it was implemented, crossed a new and dangerous threshold.

"Such settlements constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten the viability of a two-state solution," she said.

"(It) would further entrench a one-state reality of unequal rights, perpetual occupation and conflict," she said, highlighting that the EU sees Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as illegal.

The Israeli parliament passed the legislation two weeks after the inauguration of President Donald Trump as the new U.S. president. Trump has signaled a softer approach to the settlement issue than that of the previous U.S. administration.

It retroactively legalizes about 4,000 settler homes built on privately owned Palestinian land.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the action went against international law and would have legal consequences for Israel.

"The Secretary-General insists on the need to avoid any actions that would derail the two-state solution," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, referring to longstanding international efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

French President Francois Hollande also added his voice to the condemnation, saying it paved the way for the annexation of the occupied Palestinian territories.

"I think that Israel and its government could revise this text," Hollande said at news conference after meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas called the law an aggression against the Palestinian people. Other Palestinian leaders described it as a blow to their hopes of statehood.

Most countries consider the settlements, built on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War, illegal and an obstacle to peace as they reduce and fragment the territory Palestinians seek for a viable state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

Israel disputes this and cites biblical, historical and political connections to the land, as well as security needs.

Though the legislation was backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, it has raised tensions in the government. Israel's attorney-general has said the law is unconstitutional and that he will not defend it at the Supreme Court.

A White House official said on Monday that, given the new law is expected to face challenges in Israeli courts, the United States would withhold comment for now.

The Trump administration has signaled a far softer approach to the settlement issue than that of the Obama administration, which routinely denounced settlement announcements. </s> JERUSALEM/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - In a fresh display of Western discord over Middle East peace efforts, the United States said on Monday its Israel embassy would move to Jerusalem by the end of 2019, while its European Union allies voiced support for East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.

Vice-President Mike Pence, visiting Jerusalem, announced the timing of the move in a speech to Israel's parliament, earning applause from Israeli legislators but also stirring a brief protest by Israeli Arab lawmakers, who held signs reading "Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine".

In Brussels, the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini assured Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting that the EU supported his ambition to have East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.

U.S. President Donald Trump suddenly reversed decades of U.S. policy in December when he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, generating fury from Palestinians and the Arab world and concern among Washington’s western allies.

Trump's move delighted Israel, Washington's closest Middle East ally, but stirred disquiet from world powers including Russia and China who worry it would stoke regional tensions and further drive a wedge between Israel and the Palestinians.

Many countries believe Jerusalem should ultimately be shared between Israel and a future Palestinian state and so are unwilling to make decisions about recognition of its status before a comprehensive peace settlement is agreed.

"In the weeks ahead, our administration will advance its plan to open the United States Embassy in Jerusalem – and that United States Embassy will open before the end of next year," Pence, part-way through a Middle East tour, said.

"Jerusalem is Israel's capital – and, as such, President Trump has directed the State Department to immediately begin preparations to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem."

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Twitter that Pence's speech showed the U.S. administration was part of the problem rather than the solution.

"The messianic discourse of Pence is a gift to extremists", he wrote. "His message to the rest of the world is clear: violate international law and resolutions and the U.S. will reward you."

Israeli analyst Amotz Asa-El told Reuters that Pence's speech was important in a practical sense because it set a deadline for the move.

He added: "I think that he (Trump) is making it plain to the Palestinians that their policy of protestation - which was visible in the plenum with the Arab lawmakers, but even more importantly in Abbas's absence and his journey to Brussels - that none of this is going to make America budge."

In Gaza, Essam Abu Ibrahim, 28, a store owner, said: "It will not change the fact that Jerusalem is an occupied city and it will continue to be an occupied city after this decision."

In Brussels, Abbas repeated his call for East Jerusalem as capital as he urged the EU member nations to recognize a state of Palestine immediately, arguing that this would not disrupt negotiations with Israel on a peace settlement for the region.

While Abbas made no reference to Trump's move on Jerusalem or Pence's visit to the city, his presence at the EU headquarters in Brussels was seized on by European officials as a chance to restate opposition to Trump's Dec. 6 decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

Palestinians seek East Jerusalem, including the walled Old City with its holy sites, as the capital of their own future state. Israel, which annexed East Jerusalem after capturing it in 1967 in a move not internationally recognized, regards all of the city as its "eternal and indivisible capital".

Mogherini, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, called on those involved in the process to speak and act "wisely", with a sense of responsibility.

"I want to reassure President Abbas of the firm commitment of the European Union to the two-state solution with Jerusalem as the shared capital of the two states," Mogherini said.

Before Abbas' arrival, she was more outspoken, saying: "Clearly there is a problem with Jerusalem. That is a very diplomatic euphemism," in reference to Trump's position.

But Mogherini said she still wanted to work with the United States on Middle East peace talks and had discussed ways to restart them late last year with Pence and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Pence, who visited Egypt and Jordan before traveling to Israel, said that with its policy shift on Jerusalem, "the United States has chosen fact over fiction - and fact is the only true foundation for a just and lasting peace".

Pence, an evangelical Christian, drew parallels between Jewish history dating back to biblical times and the European pilgrims who founded the United States.

Welcoming Pence to the parliament, Netanyahu said he was the first U.S. vice president to have been accorded the honor.

Israel and the United States "are striving together to achieve a true peace, lasting peace, peace with all our neighbors, including the Palestinians," Netanyahu said. </s> JERUSALEM/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - In a fresh display of Western discord over Middle East peace efforts, the United States said on Monday its Israel embassy would move to Jerusalem by the end of 2019, while its European Union allies voiced support for East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.

Vice-President Mike Pence, visiting Jerusalem, announced the timing of the move in a speech to Israel’s parliament, earning applause from Israeli legislators but also stirring a brief protest by Israeli Arab lawmakers, who held signs reading “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine”.

In Brussels, the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini assured Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting that the EU supported his ambition to have East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.

U.S. President Donald Trump suddenly reversed decades of U.S. policy in December when he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, generating fury from Palestinians and the Arab world and concern among Washington’s western allies.

Trump’s move delighted Israel, Washington’s closest Middle East ally, but stirred disquiet from world powers including Russia and China who worry it would stoke regional tensions and further drive a wedge between Israel and the Palestinians.

Many countries believe Jerusalem should ultimately be shared between Israel and a future Palestinian state and so are unwilling to make decisions about recognition of its status before a comprehensive peace settlement is agreed.

“In the weeks ahead, our administration will advance its plan to open the United States Embassy in Jerusalem – and that United States Embassy will open before the end of next year,” Pence, part-way through a Middle East tour, said.

“Jerusalem is Israel’s capital – and, as such, President Trump has directed the State Department to immediately begin preparations to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.”

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Twitter that Pence’s speech showed the U.S. administration was part of the problem rather than the solution.

“The messianic discourse of Pence is a gift to extremists”, he wrote. “His message to the rest of the world is clear: violate international law and resolutions and the U.S. will reward you.”

Israeli analyst Amotz Asa-El told Reuters that Pence’s speech was important in a practical sense because it set a deadline for the move.

He added: “I think that he (Trump) is making it plain to the Palestinians that their policy of protestation - which was visible in the plenum with the Arab lawmakers, but even more importantly in Abbas’s absence and his journey to Brussels - that none of this is going to make America budge.”

In Gaza, Essam Abu Ibrahim, 28, a store owner, said: “It will not change the fact that Jerusalem is an occupied city and it will continue to be an occupied city after this decision.”

In Brussels, Abbas repeated his call for East Jerusalem as capital as he urged the EU member nations to recognize a state of Palestine immediately, arguing that this would not disrupt negotiations with Israel on a peace settlement for the region.

While Abbas made no reference to Trump’s move on Jerusalem or Pence’s visit to the city, his presence at the EU headquarters in Brussels was seized on by European officials as a chance to restate opposition to Trump’s Dec. 6 decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

Palestinians seek East Jerusalem, including the walled Old City with its holy sites, as the capital of their own future state. Israel, which annexed East Jerusalem after capturing it in 1967 in a move not internationally recognized, regards all of the city as its “eternal and indivisible capital”.

Mogherini, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, called on those involved in the process to speak and act “wisely”, with a sense of responsibility.

“I want to reassure President Abbas of the firm commitment of the European Union to the two-state solution with Jerusalem as the shared capital of the two states,” Mogherini said.

Before Abbas’ arrival, she was more outspoken, saying: “Clearly there is a problem with Jerusalem. That is a very diplomatic euphemism,” in reference to Trump’s position.

But Mogherini said she still wanted to work with the United States on Middle East peace talks and had discussed ways to restart them late last year with Pence and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Pence, who visited Egypt and Jordan before traveling to Israel, said that with its policy shift on Jerusalem, “the United States has chosen fact over fiction - and fact is the only true foundation for a just and lasting peace”.

Pence, an evangelical Christian, drew parallels between Jewish history dating back to biblical times and the European pilgrims who founded the United States.

Welcoming Pence to the parliament, Netanyahu said he was the first U.S. vice president to have been accorded the honor.

Israel and the United States “are striving together to achieve a true peace, lasting peace, peace with all our neighbors, including the Palestinians,” Netanyahu said. </s> JERUSALEM (AP) - Vice President Mike Pence kicked off his visit to Israel with a Monday morning meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he said it was an honor to be in "Israel's capital, Jerusalem."

Netanyahu told Pence it was the first time a visiting dignitary could utter those three words along with him, and he thanked Pence for President Donald Trump's "historic" recognition of Jerusalem. The Israeli leader also lauded the American-Israeli alliance, which he said has "never been stronger."

The brief exchange was part of an exceptionally warm welcome for Pence in Israel, which has praised the Trump administration's decision last month to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The decision, though, has infuriated the Palestinians, with whom Pence is not meeting, and upset America's Arab allies as well.

Pence placed his right hand over his heart as an honor guard greeted him with the American national anthem. White House Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman and the Israeli ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, joined the ceremony and Pence chatted briefly with Israeli soldiers before beginning his meeting with Netanyahu.

Pence said he was grateful to be representing Trump and that his decision to designate Jerusalem as the Israeli capital would "create an opportunity to move on in good faith negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority."

The vice president said he was hopeful "we are at the dawn of a new era of renewed discussions to achieve a peaceful resolution to a decades-long conflict."

Prior to his arrival, Pence visited Egypt and Jordan, where he was warned by King Abdullah II that he had to "rebuild trust and confidence" after the Jerusalem move.

Pence is set to deliver a speech to the Israeli Knesset, or parliament, later in the day.

After the Jerusalem announcement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would not meet Trump administration officials and called off a meeting with Pence that had been scheduled for mid-December.

In a new expression of that snub, Abbas overlapped with Pence in Jordan from Saturday evening to midday Sunday, when the Palestinian leader flew to Brussels for a meeting with European Union foreign ministers. There, Abbas is expected to urge EU member states to recognize a state of Palestine in the pre-1967 war lines, and to step up involvement in mediation.

In Brussels, EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini said the aim was "to support an international framework to accompany direct negotiations" despite the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Mogherini said "the only pragmatic, realistic solution for Jerusalem has to come through direct negotiations."

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, an Abbas adviser, reiterated that the United States "is no longer acceptable as a mediator" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Netanyahu called Pence "a great friend of Israel" and said there was "no alternative for American leadership" in the peace process. "Whoever is not ready to talk with the Americans about peace - does not want peace," he said at a meeting of ambassadors in Jerusalem.

A small group of Palestinians in the West Bank town of Bethlehem protested Pence's arrival by burning posters with his image.

Meanwhile, the main Arab party in the Israeli parliament said it will boycott Pence's speech - though it wasn't immediately clear whether they will walk out on Pence in protest or skip the session altogether. The Knesset, which is accustomed to such high profile visits, has added a new layer of security, and other then the speaker and other dignitaries, lawmakers will not have direct access to Pence.

Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint Arab List, said it was the party's democratic right to boycott the speech by the U.S. vice president. In a tweet, he said the party will not provide a "silent backdrop" to a man he called a "dangerous racist." </s> Senior Palestinian officials have announced they may no longer recognise the state of Israel should Donald Trump's incoming administration move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

According to Mohammed Ishtayeh, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian officials were told that Trump may confirm relocation plan during his inauguration on 20 January. He quoted "American circles and diplomatic friends" as their sources.

Speaking to the press on 10 January, Ishtayeh warned this move would mark the end of US-led efforts to negotiate a two-state solution as enshrined in the UN resolution 181.

"If [Trump] does so, frankly, we think this is the end of the two-state solution," Ishtayeh said, as reported by the Associated Press. "I hope President Trump does not underestimate the importance of Jerusalem for the Palestinians, Muslims and Christians."

If the relocation was confirmed, Ishmayeh said the Palestinian leadership would consider revoking a mutual recognition deal that was signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) as part of the US-brokered 1993 Oslo accords.

Abbas'd adviser also called for protests after Friday prayers across the Muslim world on 13 January. The Palestinian authorities asked churches in the region to ring their bells in protest on Sunday too, he added.

President Abbas wrote a letter to Trump on 9 January, warning him of the potentially "devastating" consequences of the embassy move. According to the official Palestinian news agency, Abbas also contacted other world leaders for support, asking that they made "every possible effort" to prevent the move. The Palestinian leader is heading to Europe over the weekend, and is going to meet Pope Francis on Saturday 14 January.

The US already has consular offices in Jerusalem, but Trump promised he would "recognise Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the State of Israel" after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in September. The president-elect pick for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, also supports moving the embassy and Republican senators have proposed a bill which aims to do just that.

According to the internationally-backed two-state solution, Jerusalem would become the shared capital of the state of Israel and of a Palestinian state which would comprise East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. East Jerusalem is currently under Israeli occupation, as a recent UN resolution reiterated, demanding a halt to "all Israeli settlement activities" to preserve the two-state solution. Outgoing Secretary of state John Kerry defended the need for a two-state solution to the conflict in a fiery speech in December.
After a meeting with the President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini again assures President Abbas that the European Union supports his ambition to have East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.