EU refuses to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed on Monday to get the European Union's support for the US recognition of Jerusalem as its capital, during his visit to the EU's Brussels headquarters.  

The EU's diplomatic chief bluntly rejected Netanyahu's suggestion that Europe would follow US President Donald Trump's decision saying there would be no change to its stance on the holy city.

Netanyahu said he expected "all or most" European countries would follow the US – but the 28-nation bloc's foreign policy head Federica Mogherini gave him a stern rebuff, telling him to "keep his expectations for others, because from the European Union member states' side this move will not come," she said, adding that the bloc – the Palestinians' largest donor – would stick to the "international consensus" on Jerusalem.

Controversial decision

The EU expressed alarm last week at the US decision, but Netanyahu said Trump had simply stated facts by acknowledging that Jerusalem had been the capital of the Israeli state for 70 years and of the Jewish people for 3,000 years.

The Jerusalem decision upended decades of US diplomacy and broke with international consensus. Mogherini last week warned it could take the situation "backwards to even darker times."

Mogherini reiterated the EU's stance that "the only realistic solution" for peace is two states –Israel and Palestine – with Jerusalem as the capital of both and the borders returned to their status before the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

Both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital and previous peace plans have stumbled over debates on whether and how to divide sovereignty or oversee holy sites.

During the talks, Netanyahu pointed to a new US peace initiative as a possible way forward.

"There is now an effort under way 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," he said.

Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working with a small team to develop a new US proposal to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, but it is not clear what progress he is making.

Uncertain US efforts

Mogherini indicated that US efforts appeared to be at a very early stage, saying "both horizon and framework" – the end goal and how to get there – had still not be clearly defined.

She also warned Washington to have no illusions "that a United States initiative alone would be successful", saying regional and international support would be essential to peace talks.

Most EU members, including the bloc's biggest countries, have expressed alarm over the Trump administration's policy shift.

But the 28-member bloc is not unified on the issue – Hungary, Greece, Lithuania and the Czech Republic in particular, in favour of warmer ties with Israel.

Trump's announcement on December 6 was followed by days of protests and clashes in the Palestinian territories and across the Muslim world.

Four Palestinians were killed either in clashes or from Israeli air strikes in Gaza Strip.