The dialogue betweenEuropean Union And Israel it's getting more and more complicated. The final and most obvious sparks came at the end Foreign Affairs Council, the meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels. Here is the High Representative of the EU, Josep BorrellIn a press conference he attacked the Israeli foreign minister. Israel Katz, who in his speech presented the idea of creating an artificial island in the Mediterranean off the coast of Gaza. An island, some media wrote, on which the Palestinians could be temporarily accommodated. However, it was the news that was said to have unsettled those present disputed from that Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Tel Aviv: “He has never said anything like that and there is no such plan.”
The clash between Borrell and Katz
Let's start with Borrell's insult. The EU High Representative said Katz would show some of them to EU ministers Video which had nothing to do with the topic of the discussion. “He showed us two videos that had nothing to do with what we were discussing: one about a projectartificial island, which was supposed to serve as a port, as far as I know (the probably correct version, editor's note). The other about some construction projects for a railway line that will connect the Middle East with India,” said Borrell himself.
“That too – he continues – seemed very interesting to us, but I think the minister could have made better use of his opinion Time“I am concerned about the security of his country and the high number of deaths in Gaza,” the senior EU official concluded. In fact, it is not clear whether Katz actually suggested to ministers that the artificial island could also host Palestinian civilians. A European diplomatic source told Adnkronos that the Israeli minister “showed a video but did not suggest that it was used to record Palestinians,” but rather that it would function as a “feature.”Harbor” and to organize a “Desalination plant“from sea water.
The Israeli minister in the eye of the storm
However, according to another source, the Israeli minister actually alluded to the possibility that the island could host Palestinians. In any case, the demonstration, in which two sheets of paper with photos of five hostages were waved in front of the cameras, does not seem to have met with the approval of European ministers. Portuguese Joao Gomes CravinhoFor example, Secretary Katz said he didn't seem “ready” to answer his colleagues' questions on important issues and hoped he would be next time. Furthermore, it appears that Katz did not address the merits of the discussion on the hypotheses of a peace path that focuses on coexistence between them two states (Israel and Palestine).
Then came the dry and succinct version from the Israeli Foreign Ministry denying the rumors about Katz's idea of an artificial phantom island project. The minister would have presented to European ministers a project that he has been pushing for years, namely the construction of a port for Gaza on an artificial island in order to control the Gaza Strip Goods Receipt. According to a spokesman, Katz said housing could also be built on the island, but “did not mention anything that had to do with the resettlement of Palestinians.”