“We agreed that all relevant parties must work urgently for a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East. We support a two-state solution with an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbors. We call for the necessary steps to build trust and urge the parties to work toward the resumption of direct negotiations without preconditions, taking note of the Sept. 23, 2011, statement of the Middle East Quartet. We affirm our support for the Palestinian Authority and its state-building efforts and encourage the international community to extend the fullest assistance possible to revitalizing the Palestinian economy.“

The above statement is part of the final communiqué of the leaders of the Group of Eight countries that met Tuesday in Northern Ireland.

The 110-word paragraph failed to make any mention of the illegal Israeli settlements. This "balanced" statement attempted to give equal weight to the occupier and occupied and failed to even take note that 46 years have passed since the Israeli aggression on Arab lands in 1967. The Israeli aggression that is rejected in the preamble of UN Security Council Resolution 242, which talks about the "inadmissibility of acquisition of territory by force."

Instead of pointing out who is the aggressor and refuser of peace, the leaders of the eight most industrialized countries in the world totally adopted the language of the Israelis. While talking about “support for the two-state solution” and referring again to the need for "an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable state," it makes no direct reference to the mechanism needed to get to this state. G8 leaders are giving lip service to a two-state solution that top Israel officials are rejecting and insisting has never been discussed in Cabinet and which, if it came to a vote, would be defeated.