EU calls for ‘incentives’ for Israelis, Palestinians to make peace

The European Union proposes “concrete” incentives for Israelis and Palestinians to restart peace negotiations at a peace summit later this year in Paris.

During their monthly meeting in Brussels, the union’s 28 foreign ministers task the European Commission and the EU’s External Action Service — its equivalent of a foreign ministry — to make a “concrete and substantial contribution” to international efforts seeking to revitalized the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process through a “global set of incentives” for both two parties.

“The EU is determined, alongside other international and regional partners, to bring a concrete and substantial contribution to a global set of incentives for the parties to make peace with a view to an international conference planned to be held before the end of the year,” the foreign ministers state.

The EU’s foreign ministers also unanimously endorsed the French peace initiative, which started with a conference in Paris earlier this month. Israel flatly rejected the French move, arguing that it hardens Palestinian negotiation positions and thus is an impediment to peace.

— Raphael Ahren