Visiting Luxembourg PM offers to host peace talks
First Russia, now Luxembourg.
Just days after talk about a possible meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow, Netanyahu – after meeting in Jerusalem with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel – entertained the possibility of such talks in the tiny European duchy.
“Prime Minister Bettel invited me to Luxembourg, but he also said maybe the Palestinians will come there,” Netanyahu said. “Well, it’s either Moscow or Luxembourg. We’ll see, one of them or anywhere else. We’re always prepared to have direct negotiations without preconditions.”
On Thursday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced that Netanyahu and Abbas have agreed “in principle” to meet in Moscow. No date was given for the meeting.
Bettel’s visit is the first-ever visit to Israel by Luxembourg’s prime minister, though the country’s long-time Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, one of Israel’s staunchest critics inside the EU, has been here a number of times.
Bettel’s visit comes a little over a year after the Luxembourg government issued its first apology for its role in the Holocaust, during which 1,200 Jews – about one-third of the Jewish population of the country – were murdered.
The statement, signed at the time by Bettel, read, “The government presents its apologies to the Jewish community for the suffering that was inflicted on it and the injustices that were committed against it, and recognizes the responsibility of some public officials in the unforgivable events committed.”
Netanyahu, in the comments he made with Bettel after their meeting, said that this apology was “deeply appreciated.”
Bettel said that he was “happy to hear” that Israel appreciated the gesture, saying the apology was important “because it’s never too late to recognize errors. The biggest error is not to recognize errors, so I’m happy that we did it.”
Though Luxembourg can generally be counted on to join EU countries like Ireland, Sweden and Malta in voting against Israel at international forums when the 28 EU countries split – with some voting for Israel, some abstaining and others voting against – Bettel said the two countries “are friends, and our bilateral relations are excellent on the political level, and also on the business level.”
Netanyahu told his Luxembourg counterpart that he has come to the Middle East at a time of “great turmoil,” but also a time of “great opportunity.”
“Israel’s partnerships and alliances around the world and in the region are growing broader and deeper,” he said. “We stand together with many countries to defend civilization against the forces of militant Islamic barbarism and we stand together in the face of resurgent anti-Semitism.”