German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received a phone call on Tuesday from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to brief him on her talks in Israel last week, according to the official Wafa news agency.
Merkel met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem last week for talks on bilateral relations. She, however, did not visit Ramallah during her two-day visit.
During the phone contact, the German Chancellor reiterated the support of Germany and the EU for the two-state solution and voiced her concern over the situation in the Gaza Strip, Wafa said.
Merkel said the EU was continuing its financial support to UN refugee agency UNRWA to maintain its role in helping Palestinian refugees.
In September, the U.S. State Department announced that Washington would “no longer commit funding” to UNRWA.
The U.S. had been UNRWA's largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly one quarter of the agency's overall budget.
Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Abbas, for his part, underlined his commitment to peace negotiations based on the two-state solution and UN resolutions, according to Wafa.
U.S.-sponsored peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel collapsed in 2014 over the latter’s refusal to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
Last December, U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, triggering world outcry.
Ever since, the Palestinian Authority has rejected any U.S. mediation in peace talks with Israel.
Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- might eventually serve as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.
Senior German conservatives facing painful losses in two state elections this month have ruled out forming coalitions with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party."I am very clear about this: not with the AfD," parliament speaker and former finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told mass-selling Bild am Sonntag newspaper.His comments support Chancellor Angela Merkel's position to ostracize the anti-Islam party, although other members of her Christian Social Union (CDU) party have expressed willingness to work with the AfD.The AfD entered the German parliament for the first time in an election last year, buoyed by conservative voters angry with Merkel's decision in 2015 to welcome almost one million, mainly Muslim, asylum seekers.The AfD also has lawmakers in all but two of the regional parliaments in Germany's 16 states. It is expected to enter the assembly in the southern state of Bavaria in an election next Sunday and storm into the parliament in Hesse two weeks later.CDU officials in the eastern states of Brandenburg and Saxony, which hold elections next year, have expressed readiness to form coalitions with the AfD.Germany, Britain sign defence cooperation agreement amid Brexit talksGerman intelligence warns of far-right terror threatMerkel said last month "I categorically rule this out," sticking to her position not to work with the party that says Islam is not compatible with the German constitution.Merkel's conservatives, which include her CDU and their Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) sister party, have seen support slide since last year's election.The conservatives formed a coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) as their junior partners in March, after Merkel's first attempt at forming a government following the September election ended in failure.Polls indicate the CSU will lose its absolute majority in Bavaria on Oct. 14 as voters in the state are expected to turn to the ecologist Greens and the AfD.CSU leader and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has also ruled out a coalition with the AfD in Bavaria."There will be no coalition between the Union and the AfD. No, No, No!" he told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, referring to the CDU/CSU alliance, which is know as the Union.Under a deal between the two parties the CSU represents the CDU in Bavaria and the CDU runs in the rest of Germany. Germany accuses Russia of committing cyber-attacksMerkel offers qualified support for 'Jewish state'
Merkel's conservatives rule out working with Germany's far-right AfD
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday criticized Israel’s “Jewish National Law” and the continued construction of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.At a joint press conference in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Merkel reiterated her country’s support for the Jewish state, but stressed that minorities, too, had rights.While noting her “reservations” regarding the recently approved Jewish National Law, Merkel said she nevertheless supported Israel as a “Jewish state”, adding that -- to achieve peace -- the Palestinians would also have to accept it as such.“Germany is concerned about [Israel’s] settlement policy, which makes it difficult to implement a two-state solution,” she said.Israel can beat Russian-supplied S-300 air shield in Syria: ministerShe went on to say that she planned to encourage the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) to return to the stalled Middle East peace process.The German chancellor also defended Israel’s right to protect its northern border from Iran’s military presence in Syria.“Iran is a threat to Israel and a threat to Lebanon,” she said. “It must have zero presence in Syria.” Netanyahu, for his part, reiterated his rejection of the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5 1 group of nations (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany).Israel to send reinforcements to Gaza buffer zone“That deal put billions of dollars into the hands of the leading sponsors of terrorism,” he asserted.On the Palestine issue, Netanyahu called on the international community to tell the PA to stop “choking” Gaza.He went on to warn that Israel would respond to any attack by Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007, with “overwhelming force”.US preparing Israel for war
Merkel offers qualified support for 'Jewish state'