European, Arab ministers meet in Riyadh in bid to revive two-state solution
In jab at US, Norway’s FM says Arab-European leadership ‘best hope’ for two-state solution; Saudis say they seek arrangement that ensures Palestinian rights and Israeli security
European and Arab foreign ministers met in the Saudi capital on Monday to discuss how to join forces on advancing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“If we want to move this two-state solution forward it will not happen from the parties. I do not believe that Israel is ready to negotiate at this point, and I do not think that the US is ready to take the necessary leadership,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, one of the organizers of the meeting, told reporters after it concluded.
“So I think an Arab-European leadership is the best we can hope for.”
The meeting took place on the sidelines of a two-day World Economic Forum special meeting in Riyadh that was largely devoted to the grinding war in the Gaza Strip, which began with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 massacre of southern communities in Israel, when terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 253 hostages.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan is among the leaders who told the WEF meeting that tangible and irreversible steps toward establishing a Palestinian state would be an essential component of any deal for a durable ceasefire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline coalition is largely opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“The continued rejection of the two-state solution will inevitably undermine the security and stability of the region,” Prince Faisal said at the start of the European-Arab meeting, which was also attended by Turkey’s foreign minister.
Riyadh co-chair Statement on efforts to implement the two-state solution, including the recognition of the Palestinian State. pic.twitter.com/Lxb9NLSUb8
— Foreign Ministry ???????? (@KSAmofaEN) April 30, 2024
A statement released by the kingdom’s foreign ministry said “concrete steps toward realization of a Palestinian State in the context of the two-state solution were discussed,” as well as recognition of such a state by countries that have yet to do so.
The statement highlighted the need to use “United Nations Security Council Resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative,” which the Arab League endorsed in 2002, offering recognition by Arab states of Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 borders.
“The objective is to achieve a just and lasting peace that fulfills the rights of the Palestinian people and the security of Israel and the region. In return, this will pave the way for normal relations between countries in a region, where stability, security, peace, and cooperation prevail,” it said.
Earlier on Monday, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters he would encourage Arab leaders to put forward their proposal for a two-state solution and that he wanted EU member states to invite Arab leaders to Brussels to present it.
“My only hope, my strong will, is to believe that if Arabs put on the table a proposal, Europeans will have to consider overcoming our divisions because it’s not a secret that the Europeans are strongly divided,” he said.
“I will propose to member states to invite the Arabs to come to Brussels and to share with us their plan because we have to try to put together our approaches.”
He also said he expected several European countries to announce their recognition of a Palestinian state within the next month, including Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Slovenia, and Malta.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne traveled to Riyadh for the latest talks on the Gaza war and “reminded his counterparts that the question of recognition (of a Palestinian state) was not a taboo for France, but must be useful in a global strategy for the two-state political solution,” a source close to Sejourne told AFP.
