In light of US President Donald Trump unveiling of his Middle East peace plan in January, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the bloc needs to formulate a European initiative to facilitate the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.

"I would like to talk to the EU foreign ministers about what ideas the Europeans have and what initiative we could take to move the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians forward," Borrell said in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt on Friday.

However, he acknowledged that the bloc was far from united on the Middle East peace process, and both Israelis and Palestinians would have to accept the EU as mediators. "All this will be difficult, but it is not impossible," Borrell said.

Concerns of annexation

Borrell also reiterated his opposition to Trump's plan, which would give Israel control over Jewish settlements on the West Bank and Jordan Valley and call for a Palestinian state. The EU foreign policy chief said he was "particularly concerned that Israel could annex the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank on the basis of this plan."

"This would be contrary to international law and UN Security Council resolutions," Borrell said. "It is not enough for the plan to be agreed with one country on the acquisition of new territories."

A history of the Middle East peace process UN Security Council Resolution 242, 1967 United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, passed on November 22, 1967, called for the exchange of land for peace. Since then, many of the attempts to establish peace in the region have referred to 242. The resolution was written in accordance with Chapter VI of the UN Charter, under which resolutions are recommendations, not orders.

A history of the Middle East peace process Camp David Accords, 1978 A coalition of Arab states, led by Egypt and Syria, fought Israel in the Yom Kippur or October War in October 1973. The conflict eventually led to the secret peace talks that yielded two agreements after 12 days. This picture from March 26, 1979, shows Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, his US counterpart Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin after signing the accords in Washington.

A history of the Middle East peace process The Madrid Conference, 1991 The US and the former Soviet Union came together to organize a conference in the Spanish capital city of Madrid. The discussions involved Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestinians — not from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) — who met with Israeli negotiators for the first time. While the conference achieved little, it did create the framework for later, more productive talks.

A history of the Middle East peace process Oslo I Accord, 1993 The negotiations in Norway between Israel and the PLO, the first direct meeting between the two parties, resulted in the the Oslo I Accord. The agreement was signed in the US in September 1993. It demanded that Israeli troops withdraw from West Bank and Gaza and a self-governing, interim Palestinian authority be set up for a five-year transitional period. A second accord was signed in 1995.

A history of the Middle East peace process Camp David Summit Meeting, 2000 US President Bill Clinton invited Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat to the retreat in July 2000 to discuss borders, security, settlements, refugees and Jerusalem. Despite the negotiations being more detailed than ever before, no agreement was concluded. The failure to reach a consensus at Camp David was followed by renewed Palestinian uprising, the Second Intifada.

A history of the Middle East peace process The Arab Peace Initiative, 2002 The Camp David negotiations were followed first by meetings in Washington and then in Cairo and Taba, Egypt — all without results. Later the Arab League proposed the Arab Peace Initiative in Beirut in March 2002. The plan called on Israel to withdraw to pre-1967 borders so that a Palestinian state could be set up in the West Bank and Gaza. In return, Arab countries would agree to recognize Israel.

A history of the Middle East peace process The Roadmap, 2003 The US, EU, Russia and the UN worked together as the Middle East Quartet to develop a road map to peace. While Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas accepted the text, his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon had more reservations with the wording. The timetable called for a final agreement on a two-state solution to be reached in 2005. Unfortunately, it was never implemented.

A history of the Middle East peace process Annapolis, 2007 In 2007 US President George W. Bush hosted a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, to relaunch the peace process. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas took part in talks with officials from the Quartet and over a dozen Arab states. It was agreed that further negotiations would be held with the goal of reaching a peace deal by the end of 2008.

A history of the Middle East peace process Washington, 2010 In 2010, US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to and implement a ten-month moratorium on settlements in disputed territories. Later, Netanyahu and Abbas agreed to relaunch direct negotiations to resolve all issues. Negotiations began in Washington in September 2010, but within weeks there was a deadlock.

A history of the Middle East peace process Cycle of escalation and ceasefire continues A new round of violence broke out in and around Gaza late 2012. A ceasefire was reached between Israel and those in power in the Gaza Strip, which held until June 2014. The kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June 2014 resulted in renewed violence and eventually led to the Israeli military operation Protective Edge. It ended with a ceasefire on August 26, 2014.

A history of the Middle East peace process Paris summit, 2017 Envoys from over 70 countries gathered in Paris, France, to discuss the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Netanyahu slammed the discussions as "rigged" against his country. Neither Israeli nor Palestinian representatives attended the summit. "A two-state solution is the only possible one," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said at the opening of the event.

A history of the Middle East peace process Deteriorating relations in 2017 Despite the year's optimistic opening, 2017 brought further stagnation in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. A deadly summer attack on Israeli police at the Temple Mount, a site holy to both Jews and Muslims, sparked deadly clashes. Then US President Donald Trump's plan to move the embassy to Jerusalem prompted Palestinian leader Abbas to say "the measures ... undermine all peace efforts."

A history of the Middle East peace process Trump's peace plan backfires, 2020 US President Donald Trump presented a peace plan that freezes Israeli settlement construction but retains Israeli control over most of the illegal settlements it has already built. The plan would double Palestinian-controlled territory, but asks Palestine to cross a red line and accept the previously constructed West Bank settlements as Israeli territory. Palestine rejected the plan outright. Author: Aasim Saleem



Borrell reiterated that the EU is in favor of a two-state solution with an equivalent exchange of Israeli and Palestinian land. He said, from the EU's point of view, the goal must be for Israel and an independent, democratic and viable state of Palestine to live side by side and in mutual recognition.

Trump hailed his proposed solution as "the deal of the century," but the plan received a largely lukewarm response in Europe. Palestinian leaders rejected the US proposal both prior to and after its unveiling.

Palestinians are seeking an independent state, demanding all territories seized during the 1967 Six-Day War, including East Jerusalem and the West Bank. They also want 700,000 Israeli settlers to leave from these regions.

Watch video 00:46 Abbas: 'It's like a Swiss cheese, really'

DW sends out a daily selection of hard news and quality feature journalism. Sign up here.