The Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament, which groups the leaders of all political groups, has decided to refer to the plenary session next week in Strasbourg a proposal to change the name of the European Parliement Delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) into ‘’Delegation for relations with Palestine.’’

The 751 MEPs are expected to vote on this proposal next Wednesday.

According to informed sources, the European People’s Party (EPP, centre-right), the largest in the parliament, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE) oppose the name change proposal while the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the European Greens, the European Left, some members of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group (EFD) and the Europe of Nations and Freedom (extreme-right) support it.

Last December, the European Parliament voted a resolution recognizing Palestinian statehood ‘’in principle.’’ "The European Parliament supports in principle recognition of Palestinian statehood and the two-state solution, and believes these should go hand in hand with the development of peace talks, which should be advanced," the motion said. A total of 498 MEPs voted in favor, while 88 were against and 111 abstained.

The Delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council, which is responsible for maintaining and developing contacts between the Palestinian Authority and the EU Parliament, is chaired by Sinn Fein’s Martina Anderson, a vocal anti-Israel member of the European Parliament, who initiated the change name proposal.

The vote next week on hee proposal will coincide with a debate in the plenary session on the Middle East Peace Process which will follow a statement by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on the EU's role on this issue . A vote of a resolution on the Middle East will take place the next day.

The text of a resolution tabled by the Socialist group MEP Victor Bostinaru calls for a more active role for the EU in the Middle East peace process, reaffirms the EU's commitment to the two states solution "with the state of Israel within secure and recognised borders and with an independent, contiguous and viable State of Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security along the 1967 borders, with mutually agreed land swaps, and Jerusalem as capital of both states.'' The motion calls for an end to the ''colonisation policy followezd by Israel.''

While acknowledging that ''growing violence in the whole region generates new security challenges for Israel,'' the text stresses that it also creates ''shared interests'' with the Arab states. ''This, together with the nuclear deal with Iran offers a unique momentum for the peace process which should not be missed.''

At a closed joint session of the European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council and the Delegation for relations with Israel on Thursday, the EU’s Ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, reportedly expressed a rather pessimistic view on the prospects for restarting peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians because, according to him, the Israeli government has put Iran on top of its priorities rather than the Palestinian issue.

Netanyahu: I’m ready for peace talks without preconditions

Earlier this week, however, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to achieving peace with the Palestinians. In a meeting with activists from the “Women Wage Peace” movement, Netanyahu stated that he was “ready to travel to Ramallah or any other place in order to meet and carry out direct negotiations with no pre-conditions.”

“The solution is two states for two peoples,” said the Prime Minister, with “a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognises the nation state of the Jewish people. ''If you intend to meet with Abbas, tell him that I am ready to meet and is he ready for this,'' he said.

In her intervention to the Strasbourg plenary, next week Mogherini will also address the nuclear deal with Iran.