Jul. 01
France took over the EU’s six-month rotating presidency, Tuesday. The country’s agendas for the bloc — including boosting EU military capabilities — have been overshadowed by the Irish No vote on the Lisbon Treaty.
Jul. 03
At the European Socialist Party Conference on the Middle East, EU high representative Javier Solana said “time is short” for making peace.
Jul. 03
Jul. 04
Jul. 06
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas met with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Syria, Sunday to discuss the Middle East peace process.
Jul. 08
France will push ahead with its plans to build an EU military, despite the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, said France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, at an EU-NATO conference held in Paris on Monday. The conference addressed strengthening the relationship between the EU and NATO.
Jul. 08
Jul. 09
Syrian president Bashar Assad left open the possibility of meeting with Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert on the sidelines of a conference next Sunday in Paris that will launch the Mediterranean Union — a new organization of EU and Mediterranean nations.
Jul. 10
France plans to deliver a solution for the EU impasse by the end of the year, said French president Nicholas Sarkozy, Thursday, at a meeting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
Jul. 11
Jul. 13
Leaders from 44 European and Mediterranean states will gather in Paris, Sunday, to launch the ‘Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean.’ The new union ‘underlines the EU’s continued commitment and political will to realise the ambitions of the Barcelona Declaration,’ said EU commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.
Jul. 14
The Union of the Mediterranean, launched Sunday, is designed to bring peace to the Middle East. EU high representative Javier Solana said the union could bring “new impetus” to the peace process, but won’t play a role in negotiations.
Jul. 14
U.S. presidential hopeful Barak Obama will visit the Middle East next week, meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Obama said, if elected president, he will work for peace in the region by supporting the creation of a Palestinian state.
Jul. 15
Syria must make progress in its relations with Israel before it can sign an Association Agreement with the European Union and reap the benefits of participation in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), according to EU high representative Javier Solana.
Jul. 15
Jul. 16
The World Conference on Dialogue kicked off in Spain on Wednesday — a three-day interfaith event sponsored by Saudi Arabia. About 250 religious and social leaders are attending the conference, including Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair and U.S. civil rights figure the Reverend Jesse Jackson.
Jul. 16
Jul. 20
Barack Obama’s nuclear policy advisor, Joseph Cirincione, told an Iranian news agency, on June 30, that the reason nuclear negotiations with Iran are failing is because the United States is not cooperating with EU high representative Javier Solana, who is leading the talks.
Jul. 21
Alliance of Civilizations high representative Jorge Sampaio said the Union for the Mediterranean, launched July 13, and Alliance of Civilizations share the same goal: raising “a barrier against intolerance, religious fundamentalism and extremism.” He said the two entities should be “developed in close collaboration.”
Jul. 22
“Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama vowed Tuesday to work for a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations ‘starting from the minute I’m sworn into office.’”
Jul. 02
“A think tank which is arguably the most influential in Washington is proposing an ‘interim’ neutral administration to govern Jerusalem instead of Israel.”
Jul. 05
EU high representative Javier Solana announced on Sunday that he plans to retire when his 5-year term comes to an end in October.
Jul. 07
“Pope Benedict on Tuesday called for a ‘world political authority’ to manage the global economy and for more government regulation of national economies to pull the world out of the current crisis and avoid a repeat.”
Jul. 08
The Global Post asked EU high representative Javier Solana what will happen with the Iranian nuclear negotiations entrusted in him personally when he retires in October. “‘Let us hope it’s resolved by then,’ he said wryly.”
Jul. 12
“The European Union’s top diplomat has called for the United Nations Security Council to push forward and recognize a Palestinian state even without a final-status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.”
Jul. 13
Brussels reporter David Haworth comments on the “ironical” timing of Javier Solana’s retirement announcement — just before he was poised to inherit much more power.
Jul. 14
Jul. 18
“Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad made a fresh appeal to the United States for a plan and a timetable aimed at resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
Jul. 18
“A peace plan with a strict timeline may be announced by the new US Administration in coming weeks, Israel’s English and Hebrew daily Haaretz newspaper reported”
Jul. 19
“Israel is now charging that the Europeans are ganging up against it.”
Jul. 22
Javier Solana’s “remarkable” proposal that the UN impose a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “could indeed by seriously considered one day soon by the Security Council.”
Jul. 26
“A parade of four senior U.S. officials due in Israel this week are expected to increase pressure on Israel to agree to a construction freeze in Judea and Samaria and avoid any action against the Iranian nuclear threat.”
Jul. 26
Jul. 30
An article published in the European Voice, Thursday, notes that there are “remarkably few” names being put forward to replace Javier Solana.
Jul. 31
“About two thirds of the [Israeli] public want the Temple rebuilt, including about half of secular Israelis, a new survey conducted for Ynet and the Gesher organization revealed.”
Jul. 06
“The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain will visit Gaza following Israel’s ease of the blockade imposed on the Palestinian territory, a move backed as a ‘significant step forward’ by the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Jul. 07
“Netanyahu also spoke with Gates about the possibility of the U.S. providing Israel with security guarantees in the event of a peace arrangement in the region.”
Jul. 09
“On Friday, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Israel of pressuring the Palestinians into joining direct talks without meeting the basic condition for moving forward, freezing the expansion of the settlements, Army Radio reported.”
Jul. 10
“Just days after meeting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday phoned PA President Mahmoud Abbas and urged him to change his mind about holding direct talks with Israel, according to a Palestinian official in Ramallah.”
Jul. 14
Jul. 14
“U.S. special envoy George Mitchell was scheduled to arrive on Thursday to push for direct Israeli-Palestinian talks, amid Israeli optimism that these talks will begin well before the 10-month settlement moratorium ends on September 26.”
Jul. 15
Richard Haas, head of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Washington think-tank, said the EU needs someone of Javier Solana’s stature if it wants to have international clout.
Jul. 15
Jul. 17
Jul. 18
“Half the Israeli public wants the Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash) to be rebuilt. This is the main finding of a poll commissioned by the Knesset Television Channel and carried out by the Panels Institute.”
Jul. 21
“Abbas complained that Obama recently sent him an oral message urging him to launch direct negotiations with Israel unconditionally.”
Jul. 25
“Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that he was under pressure from the international community to begin direct negotiations with Israel.”
Jul. 26
“Israel is ready to begin direct negotiations with the Palestinians, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday, adding that if the Palestinians were willing to open direct talks, Israel might turn over a key road in the north Jerusalem area.”
Jul. 27
“Two days before a crucial meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo to decide whether to support direct Israeli- Palestinian talks, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held an unannounced meeting in Amman Tuesday with King Abdullah II in an apparent attempt to get him to support such talks.”
Jul. 28
“A secret 36-page memo based on Obama administration statements indicates that the president warned Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to start direct talks with Israel or risk losing American support for the recognition of the PA as a country.”
Jul. 29
“Arab League foreign ministers on Thursday authorized the Palestinian Authority to enter into direct negotiations with Israel, but left it up to PA President Mahmoud Abbas to decide on the timing.”
Jul. 30
‘Independent commentator Robert Fisk says Israel has become so politically and economically tied to the EU that it is practically a member state. And, strangely, nobody has noticed — except that “grubby top dog” Javier Solana.