After much diplomatic activity by European Union headquarters and several European capitals, principally Paris, to revive a Middle East peace process, it seems today that the EU is about to give up on any chance to revive a two-state solution process in the foreseeable future. Europe is preoccupied with domestic challenges, first and foremost the refugees crisis, which is linked to Islamic State-inspired terror. European security, for the first time since the war in the Balkans, is now the main concern of Europeans in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Paris, Brussels, Nice and other places. These security threats challenge the pragmatic European democracies, sparking a rise in power of extreme right-wing parties. Also, following the "Brexit" vote, the cohesion of the EU is in question with the upcoming negotiations with the United Kingdom’s government of Prime Minister Theresa May.

There is therefore lesser interest in the Israeli-Palestinian issue. The diplomatic efforts that were made over the past few months by the EU were spearheaded by the dynamic EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, together with the French Foreign Ministry. Yet the French Initiative and the Paris conference June 3 led nowhere.

A senior EU official close to Mogherini told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Brussels is extremely concerned about possible significant violence erupting between the Palestinians and Israel, but that at this time there is not much the EU can do about it. “We must be realistic, the EU cannot impose a peace process. The European leadership is frustrated with all parties, and mainly with Israeli settlement policies. We will not say this publicly, but, at this point, we are giving up on launching a meaningful diplomatic effort,” the official said.

The official listed several reasons for this resignation. The first is the lack of enthusiasm among some prominent member states, primarily the United Kingdom and Germany, for the EU to be in the forefront of initiating a Middle Eastern peace process. May is preoccupied with the Brexit process and German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hesitant to publicly express her critical position of Israeli settlement policies.