Brussels, 22/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 22 June, Israel's President Reuven Rivlin said in Brussels that he did not believe the conditions for a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians had been met yet, and he called on the European Union to help build the trust needed between the parties.
“The practical conditions, the political and regional circumstances, which would enable a permanent [Israeli-Palestinian] agreement to be found, have not been met”, Rivlin said during a formal address to the European Parliament plenary. “If Europe wants to play a constructive role (…) it will have to focus on a patient method for regaining trust. It is not about boycotts but about cooperating and investing. It is not easy to say that a permanent agreement cannot be found today”, he said.
In Rivlin's view, “if the international community aspires to being a constructive player, it must cease to demand negotiations for negotiations, but it must rebuild trust between the parties and create the conditions needed for success”. He criticised the slow French initiative to revive the peace process, stating that “there is an attempt to return to the negotiations just to say that there are negotiations”. According to Rivlin, “this does not favour the long-awaited solution, but distances us from it”. He underlined his message saying that he believed this was “the chronicle of a predictable failure, which will only plunge two peoples further into despair”. “Despair is our biggest danger - for both Israelis and Palestinians”, he said.
Rivlin proposed several areas for action to strengthen trust. One focuses on cooperation between Israel and the “moderate” states in the region, such as Egypt and Jordan, “in order to prevent any military conflict, beyond the borders and to eradicate extremism”. This cooperation would go hand in hand with “effective guarantees from the countries in the region”. He then underlined the importance of economic development in Palestine, including that of the private sector and of infrastructure, to improve the Palestinians' quality of life. There would also need to be investment in education and common projects, “to rouse the common interest”, such as industrial, tourist or renewable energy projects. This is because, in Rivlin's view, “common projects can create a horizon for the future”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)