EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell had a phone call on Friday with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi three days after the formal signing of the normalization and peace accords at the White House.

”High Representative Borrell recalled EU’s support for the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and confirmed readiness to work to foster regional cooperation for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Middle East,” said the statement issued by the EU external service.

 

Is the announcement of the normalization of relations between Israel and two Gulf states producing a shift in the EU’s perception of the Middle East ?

Since this announcement, EU’s foreign policy Josep Borrell has twice praised, in the name of the 27 EU member states, the normalization between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrein.

He did it again on Friday in his name when he issued a statement after a phone call he had with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi three days after the formal signing of the normalization and peace accords at the White House.

”High Representative Borrell recalled EU’s support for the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and confirmed readiness to work to foster regional cooperation for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Middle East,” said the statement issued by the EU external service.

Borrell and Ashkenazi ‘’exchanged views on the issues in the bilateral agenda between the EU and Israel and discussed latest developments in the region. Both agreed on a shared, mutual interest in intensifying bilateral cooperation,’’ it said.

‘’High Representative Borrell recalled EU’s support for the normalisation of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and confirmed readiness to work to foster regional cooperation for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Middle East,’’ Borrell added.

He also emphasized what he said previously and is constant in EU’s policy: ‘’the need to restart meaningful talks between Israel and Palestinians towards a negotiated and viable two-state solution that respects the internationally agreed parameters and international law.’’

Ashkenazi, who took his post in May,  has already met the 27 EU Foreign Ministers in Berlin end of August. This was his first trip abroad since his nomination. Also a sign of the ”change” in Israel’s perception of the European Union which was often criticized in Jerusalem for its ”biased” position on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Will this new ‘’thinking’’  and atmosphere lead to a new era in EU-Israel relations and to the reestablishment of the EU-Israel Association Council which has not been convened for the last 12 years because of disagreements on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ? Now that the issue of extending Israeli sovereignty to part of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) has been ‘’frozen’’ under the normalization agreements, this is now possible and even needed because advancing EU-Israel relations will also benefit regional peace. And Josep Borrell knows that more Arab or Muslim countries are set to follow in the footsteps of Abu Dhabi and Manama.

”The normalization agreements is a of course a good thing for the security in the region and for the prospects for peace but there is still the Palestinian issue and the need to reach a two-state solution,” an EU official told European Jewish Press.

As EU Foreign Ministers will be meeting Monday in Brussels, Borrell is likely to brief the ministers on his conversation with Ashkenazi.