BRUSSELS — Heavy snow in Brussels the evening of Dec. 11 delayed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's flight back to Israel. So while waiting for Belgian authorities to clear the snow, Netanyahu briefed journalists on his exchanges with the European Union foreign ministers earlier that day. “I told them to stop pampering the Palestinians,” said Netanyahu, adding that he urged the ministers to engage in a new discourse on the region.
Netanyahu's two-day trip to Europe was planned several weeks ago, when Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri fled his country to Saudi Arabia, announcing his resignation. It was Netanyahu's entourage who persuaded Lithuania to invite him to the European foreign ministers' monthly council meeting in Brussels, behind the back of other European leaders. Netanyahu's people reminded Israel-friendly Lithuania that no Israeli prime minister had visited the European institutions in the past 22 years and that regional developments in Lebanon, and also in Syria, call for such a meeting.
