Peace effort without U.S. difficult, Palestinians told

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Germany’s new foreign minister on Monday urged Palestinians “not to tear down bridges,” an apparent reference to President Mahmoud Abbas’ contentious relationship with the U.S. and political rival Hamas.

Heiko Maas also acknowledged differences with Israel about the international community’s nuclear deal with Iran, but he gave no commitment to altering the deal ahead of a mid-May deadline set by President Donald Trump.

Maas was on his first trip to the Middle East since becoming foreign minister earlier this month.

Meeting Palestinian leaders in Ramallah, he said the new German government remains committed to a twostate solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Trump administration has refused to make such a commitment. In December, President Donald Trump recognized contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, prompting Abbas to rule out the U.S. as a future Mideast broker.

Maas said Monday that peace efforts without the U.S. “would be difficult.”

Monthslong efforts to sideline Hamas in Gaza through a deal with Abbas appear to have collapsed after a Gaza bombing narrowly missed Abbas’ prime minister this month.

Later in Jerusalem, Maas professed his country’s friendship with Israel, despite differences over the two-state solution, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu no longer endorses, and the Iranian nuclear issue.

“Our views differ, but first and foremost we are friends,” he said. “We want to hear from our friends their concerns and fears, and therefore I have come here.”

Netanyahu has been an outspoken critic of the 2015 nuclear deal and has urged the international community to “fix it or nix it.” He says the deal does not have sufficient safeguards to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Given Trump’s mid-May deadline, U.S. negotiators have been working with Britain, France and Germany on a follow-on pact that would address Trump’s three major complaints. Trump wants to penalize Iran for ballistic missiles, which weren’t part of the original deal. He also wants to expand access for international nuclear inspectors and prolong the limits on Iran’s nuclear activity, currently scheduled to expire in several years.

Maas has said he was profoundly affected by the Holocaust, and his agenda included a meeting with Israeli Holocaust survivors and a visit to Israel’s Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem.

“As a German this was a very moving visit,” he said, professing his opposition to anti-Semitism and praising the warm welcome he received. “I am moved as if I have received a gift that I do not deserve.”