Seven European nations warned on Wednesday that any Israeli annexation steps in the occupied Palestinian territories would harm their ties with Israel.
“Following our obligations and responsibilities under international law annexation would have consequences for our close relationship with Israel and will not be recognized by us” the French ambassador to the UN in in New York Nicolas de Riviere said in a statement he read out in the name of the seven countries during a virtual meeting.
This position has been voiced by the five European countries who are now members of the UN Security Council France Britain Belgium Germany and Estonia. The new incoming European UNSC members Ireland and Norway also signed the statement.
“We all currently enjoy a close relationship with Israel and wish to continue working with Israel in a constructive and comprehensive way in the spirit of the long following friendship that binds us” de Riviere said but he warned that those ties would not continue if annexation moved forward.
“If any annexation of the West Bank however big or small is implemented it would constitute a clear violation of international law including the UN charter as well as the UN Security Council resolutions” de Riviere said.
Annexation would weaken peace efforts and harm the security of region including that of Israel he added.
The French ambassador underscored that the seven countries would not recognize any changes to the pre-1967 borders that were not agreed upon during talks between the Palestinians and Israelis.
The seven spoke out after the monthly UNSC meeting on the Middle East which focused almost exclusively on Israel’s intended annexation plans which is part of US president Donald Trump’s peace plan known widely as the deal of the century.
To underscore the seriousness of any annexation steps UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres and Arab League secretary-general Ahmed Aboul Gheit made rare appearance at the meeting to dismiss the Trump peace plan and call for a revival of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations based on the pre-1967 borders. The Trump plan for a two-state solution makes no reference to those borders.
