British FM affirms commitment to two states in meeting with PA counterpart
UK’s Johnson tells Riyad al-Malki that Jerusalem must be a shared capital, calls for ‘urgent’ restart to peace talks
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleDov Lieber is a former Times of Israel Arab affairs correspondent.
British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson told Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki on Monday that the United Kingdom still supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and hopes that Jerusalem will be a shared capital between Israel and a future Palestinian state.
“During our productive talks, I reiterated the UK’s commitment to supporting the Palestinian people and the two-state solution, the urgent need for renewed peace negotiations,” said Johnson, in a statement published by the UK Foreign Ministry after a meeting with Malki in London.
Johnson also reiterated “the UK’s clear and longstanding position on the status of Jerusalem: it should be determined in a negotiated settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and Jerusalem should ultimately be the shared capital of the Israeli and Palestinian states.”
Johnson’s statements came in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December.
Held talks with Foreign Minister Riyad al Malki to discuss UK’s commitment to supporting the #Palestinian people, urgent need for progress on the Middle East Peace Process & reiterated UK’s position on the status of Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/NJMAAhhTzx
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 8, 2018
Relations between Trump’s White House and the Palestinians have soured since Trump’s December 6 announcement recognizing Jerusalem, in the course of which he stressed that he was not prejudging future borders or the status of holy sites in the capital.
The declaration led PA President Mahmoud Abbas to break off all contact with the Trump administration, and he has refused to meet with US officials regarding the peace process, including envoy Jason Greenblatt and Vice President Mike Pence, angering the US administration.
The UK voted in favor of resolutions, both in the UN Security Council and General Assembly, rejecting the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The Times of Israel Community.