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Wilfried Martens, President of the European People’s Party (EPP), the largest political party in the European Parliament: said developments on the ground, like settlement construction, “which could make the two-state solution impossible, must be avoided."
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BRUSSELS (EJP)---The changes across the Arab world make the resumption of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians "all the more urgent," Wilfried Martens, President of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the largest political party in the European Parliament, told his interlocutors this week during a two-day visit in Israel and in the Palestinian Territories.
He also said developments on the ground, like settlement construction, “which could make the two-state solution impossible, must be avoided,” referring to the conclusions of the last meeting of EU Foreign Ministers.
During this visit, Martens met high-level politicians, representatives of the European Union and members of civil society.
In Israel, the EPP President, who met with President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and with several Members of the Knesset belonging to different political groups, reiterated the commitment of the European Union to the security of Israel.
He also met in Ramallah with the Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, Salam Fayyad, and Nabil Shaath, Commissioner of International Relations of Fatah. Martens acknowledged the achievements of the Palestinian Authority in state building.
He also had discussions with EU representatives such as the Ambassador of Belgium in Israel, the Consul General of Belgium in Jerusalem, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union in Israel and the EU Representative in Jerusalem.
He shared his views on Europe and the developments in the Middle East with the academic board of Bir Zeit University and the General Director of the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation.
The visit also had a religious component with meetings with religious dignitaries such as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, and visits to Holy places such as the Bethlehem Nativity Church, the Jerusalem Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Martens also made a moving visit to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes Remembrance Memorial, in Jerusalem.