Remarks by HRVP Mogherini on the situation in the West Bank, including settlements at the plenary session of the European Parliament - European External Action Service
Bruxelles, 23/11/2016
▻https://eeas.europa.eu/node/15679_en
So let me conclude on a more personal note. Two months ago I was in Jerusalem for the funeral of a great Israeli man and a great man of peace, Shimon Peres. It was a very sad moment also for me personally, I had known him for many years. And yet it showed that hope is still alive. An important gesture came that day from President Abbas – his presence at the funeral in Jerusalem and the handshake with Prime Minister Netanyahu were little big steps in the right direction, a little big moment of hope. And the night before the funeral I had the opportunity to have a long meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, in which he recognised, as Peres did, that only peace can bring security to Israel. So in difficult times for the Middle East we need to keep our eyes wide open, not only for the extremely worrying developments but also for any glimpses of hope and seize every opportunity that comes our way to make it grow.