Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has urged Israel and the Palestinians to step up efforts to break the deadlock in the Middle East peace process.
The second day of his trip to the region was focused on the Palestinian question and Mr Coveney met in Ramallah with deputy prime minister Ziad Abu Amr and Amal Jado, a senior official at the Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs.
“I am more convinced than ever that practical measures are needed urgently, in order to make any progress on the prospects for negotiations,” Mr Coveney said. “There are a wide range of actions that the Israeli and Palestinian sides could work on to lower tension and prevent further deterioration on the ground. Fundamental to this has to be equality, parity of esteem and a serious commitment to the rule of law,” Mr Coveney said.
The Palestinian officials urged a more proactive European role to break the deadlock in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and told Mr Coveney that the EU has a role to help the Palestinians achieve their goals and legitimate rights based on international law and United Nations resolutions.
The Palestinians raised the ongoing blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip, Israeli actions in Palestinian neighbourhoods in east Jerusalem including efforts to evict Palestinian residents and replace them with Jewish settlers and the critical cash crisis faced by president Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian officials praised the ongoing Irish support for the Palestinian cause and donations for humanitarian projects in the West Bank and for Palestinian refugees via the UN refugee agency UNRWA.
Earlier, Mr Coveney met in Jerusalem with his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid. The two men discussed bilateral ties and regional issues, including the efforts by the international community to persuade Iran to return to the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) nuclear deal and Israel’s belief that Teheran is deliberately delaying while pushing ahead with its nuclear development.
Mr Coveney said he understood Israel’s concerns. “I think the delays are very worrying and we have seen Iran move further and further away from compliance commitments linked to previous JCPOA agreements and as the weeks and months pass Iran moves closer to being able to produce a nuclear weapon, ” he told the Irish Times. “Having said that Ireland has the formal role as facilitator of the UN resolution that is the basis for the Iranian nuclear deal and we take that role seriously.”
He insisted a return to the nuclear deal remains the best path forward. ’“We believe this region and the world is a safer place if the JCPOA is in place rather than if it collapses. I know there are many sceptics in Israel of these efforts and there is zero trust when it comes to Iran but nevertheless the JCPOA was in my opinion a significant tool that is worth protecting and putting back in place.”
On Thursday Mr Coveney will visit Jordan to open Ireland’s new embassy alongside Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi and will also meet with refugee communities.
