EU's Mogherini says Jerusalem should be capital of Palestine and Israel

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, meeting on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Brussels, has joined many EU leaders in expressing disapproval of the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Foreign ministers from the 28-member bloc are set to urge Netanyahu – making the first visit to the EU by an Israeli premier in more than two decades – to restart "meaningful" dialogue aimed at reaching peace with the Palestinians.

Mogherini said during a joint media address that "the only realistic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is based on two states with Jerusalem as the capital of both."

The bloc would continue to recognise the "international consensus" on Jerusalem, she said.

TRT World's Simon McGregor-Wood reports.

The visit comes after US President Donald Trump officially recognised Jerusalem as the Israeli capital – a move widely condemned by international leaders.

Mogherini repeated the Union's commitment to a two-state solution and that it was in Israel's interest to find a sustainable solution to its conflict with the Palestinians. 

The EU, she said, would step up its peace efforts and would hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas next month.

But Netanyahu praised Trump's move and said he expected Europeans to follow suit.

"It makes peace possible because recognising reality is the substance of peace, the foundation of peace," Netanyahu told reporters as he was greeting by Mogherini before the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

"There is now an effort an effort to bring forward a new peace proposal by the American administration. I think we should give peace a chance. I think we should see what is presented and see if we can advance this peace."

TRT World's Kevin Ozebek reports from Brussels.

EU-Israel cooperation

Netanyahu said Trump's move, condemned by the Palestinians and by European governments, should be emulated by them.

"It's time that the Palestinians recognise the Jewish state and also recognise the fact that it has a capital. It's called Jerusalem," he said.

"I believe that, even though we don't have an agreement yet, this is what will happen in the future. I believe that all, or most, of the European countries will move their embassies to Jerusalem, recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and engage robustly with us for security, prosperity and peace."

The Israeli leader stressed his country's partnership with Europe, saying its intelligence cooperation had helped prevent militant attacks while its security role in the Middle East had curbed Daesh's expansion in the region.

He also highlighted Israel's economic contribution in new technologies. Mogherini said the EU and Israel were "friends and partners."

Trump's plan is 'bad for peace efforts'

But even Israel's closest European allies such as the Czech Republic warned Trump's decision was bad for peace efforts, while France insisted Jerusalem's status could only be agreed in a final deal between Israelis and Palestinians.

Asked by reporters about Trump's decision to switch the US Embassy to Jerusalem, Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said: "I'm afraid it can't help us."

Last week, the Czech foreign ministry said it would begin considering moving the Czech Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which many in Israel saw as an endorsement of Trump's move.

But Prague later said it accepted Israel's sovereignty only over West Jerusalem.

EU foreign ministers reiterated the EU position that the lands Israel has occupied since a 1967 war – including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights – are not part of the internationally recognised borders of Israel.

"I'm convinced that it is impossible to ease tension with a unilateral solution," Zaoralek said as he and his counterparts arrived for a breakfast with Netanyahu. "We are talking about an Israeli state but at the same time we have to speak about a Palestinian state."

Still awaiting US peace plan

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian urged Washington to come forward with peace plans that are being drawn up by Jason Greenblatt, Trump's Middle East envoy, and Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

"We've been waiting already for several months for the American initiative, and if one is not forthcoming that the EU will have to take the initiative," Le Drian said.

The EU believes it has a duty to make its voice heard as the Palestinians' biggest aid donor and Israel's biggest trade partner, even if EU governments have varying degrees of sympathy towards Israel and the Palestinians.

Protests against Trump's plan

Trump's plan to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which the secretary-general of the UN said could damage peace efforts, has prompted sometimes violent protests.

A demonstration condemning Netanyahu's visit is planned for later in the morning in Brussels.