González Laya finishes his tour in Palestine and Israel
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, will conclude a two-day official visit to Israel and Palestine this afternoon, during which she met with her counterparts and other authorities to strengthen bilateral relations between Palestine and Israel.
González Laya recalled that next year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Madrid Peace Conference, and suggested to his Israeli counterpart, Gaby Ashkenazi, that he should take advantage of the date to give impetus to the dialogue, which has been stalled since 2014, and support for Israelis and Palestinians to build confidence and return to the dialogue table.
The 30th anniversary next year of the Madrid Peace Conference, she suggests, is an opportunity to try again to bring the parties together to agree on an end to a conflict that has lasted more than seven decades.
The minister promised to take this message later to Ramallah, for an interview with her counterpart, Riad al-Malki; after the meeting in Jerusalem, González Laya will meet the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Prime Minister, Mohamed Shtayeh, to whom she will also convey the need to move towards peace.
"The message that I will take to Ramallah is the same that I leave here today: that Spain believes in the need to give impetus to the negotiations between Israel and Palestine and to achieve a solution built around the two states living side by side, in peace and security, under the guidance of the many UN resolutions on this issue", she said, without referring to any of the thorny issues that confront the parties.
When asked by the Spanish press about the future recognition of Palestine as an independent state, the head of diplomacy replied that "Spain will be prepared to recognise Palestine as a state when the conditions are right", according to Efe.
The President of Israel, Reuvén Rivlin, thanked the Foreign Minister, Arancha González Laya, for Spain's efforts to prevent the Holocaust, in which six million Jews died, from being forgotten.
González Laya, for her part, conveyed a special message from King Felipe VI: "His Majesty sees you as a close friend and thanks you for your warm support for Spain during one of the hardest periods the country has ever known due to the coronavirus", according to the Efe news agency.
"I would like to express my gratitude for Spain's efforts to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, as well as the appreciation for the rich Jewish history of your country," Rivlin told the minister.
This is his second trip to the country, where he also arrived on a protocol visit last January, shortly after taking office, to accompany the King of Spain to the World Forum on the Holocaust. On Wednesday she became the first Spanish foreign minister to visit the Jewish state after José Manuel García-Margallo, who made an official trip in 2015.
This is the first bilateral trip by a head of Spanish diplomacy to Israel in almost six years and its aim is to deepen bilateral relations and increase cooperation, especially in the areas of science, technology, agriculture and the economy.
However, González Laya is also seeking to encourage the Israeli and Palestinian authorities - whom he will visit today in Ramallah - to take steps to build mutual trust and return to the negotiating table.
