Benjamin Netanyahu, Abbas may address the EU in bid to reinvigorate peace process

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas could address European heads of state in the near future as part of a push by the international community to jump-start the peace process.

 

It would be Netanyahu’s first address to the EU Council as premier, even though he has spoken three times before a joint session of Congress.

 

To date, no Israeli prime minister has addressed the EU since its inception in 1993. In 1995, Shimon Peres, who was then the foreign minister and acting prime minister, visited Brussels, but did not formally speak to the body as a whole.

 

The possibility of an EU address was first raised by Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades during his visit to Jerusalem last month, and he raised it again during Netanyahu’s visit to his island country on Tuesday.

 

Read More: Benjamin Netanyahu, Abbas may address the EU in bid to reinvigorate peace process – Arab-Israeli Conflict – Jerusalem Post