EU has new plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace, but will it work?
The EU is contemplating a three-pronged plan that includes curbing settlement expansion though labeling goods, advancing a UN resolution and organizing a regional peace conference.
While the leading European Union foreign ministers are primarily preoccupied with the refugee crisis and the implementation of the Iran agreement, there is growing pressure from some key players to be more assertive in advancing a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. These key players include High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of France, Spain and Italy (Laurent Fabius, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo y Marfil and Paolo Gentiloni).
A senior foreign policy source in the EU headquarters in Brussels told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity that despite improving relations between the EU and the United States due to the Iran deal, there is a divide in policy outlook when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian issue. It has been made clear to the EU leadership that President Barack Obama is not going to engage in a dynamic effort to revive peace talks. At most, the United States will be involved in efforts to prevent violence in and from the West Bank and Gaza.
