World Jewish News

A past meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers at the Arab Leagues Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. (photo by JPost.com)

Arab League rejects EU J'lem proposal

The Arab League responded negatively Sunday to last week's Swedish proposal that the European Union recognize east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

In an interview with the Saudi newspaper Al Wattan on Sunday the Arab League diplomat said that Sweden, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, wants to leave its mark, but knows that the European body does not have the power to do so, adding that it would not recognize a Palestinian state if one is unilaterally declared.

The Arab League representative in Brazil said that the Swedish proposal amounted to "empty words" and that the resolution would wind up on "one of the shelves of European Union foreign policy."

The EU, the diplomat told the paper, will never recognize a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood because it is not ready to acknowledge or legitimize Hamas's influence in the region.

Following reports of Sweden's attempts to insert language that would recognize east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state into an EU resolution, the Foreign Ministry last week responded similarly to the Arab League, saying there was nothing new in the resolution.

Separately, one Israeli official called the proposal maddening in that east Jerusalem would be the capital of a Palestinian state without 'west Jerusalem' being recognized as the Israel's capital.

European foreign ministers will convene Monday to discuss the Swedish proposal on the international status of Jerusalem.

By JPOST.COM STAFF. Herb Keinon contributed to this report

JPost.com