In an address to the European Parliament plenary in Brussels, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin criticized the French Mideast initiative endorsed this week by the European Union, saying it ‘’suffers from fundamental faults.’’

‘’The attempt to return to negotiations for negotiations’ sake, not only does not bring us near the long-awaited solution, but rather drags us further away from it,’’ he told the 751 members of the parliament.

On June 3, France organized a meeting of 28 countries and organisations in order to convene a international peace conference before the end of the year aimed at restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The EU Foreign Ministers endorsed the idea of an internationa conference at a meeting in Luxembourg last Monday.

Rivlin called on the European countries to invest their efforts to establish trust between Israel and Palestinian, instead of attempts to force a diplomatic settlement.

‘’The undermining push for a permanent solution is a chronicle of failure foretold form the start, that only pushes the two nations deeper into the fold of despair," he continued.

The President stated that the three main reasons the deal wouldn't work were the split between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza working for the destruction of Israel, the sever economic distress undermining stability and fueling violence and the lack of total faith at all levels between the two parties.

Speaking to Europan Parliament President Rivlin slams French initiative

‘’This despair is the hottest bed for extremism, and undermines the endeavors of moderates. And this despair, ladies and gentlemen, today seizes not just members of my generation, but also boys and girls growing up in this part of the world, whose world view and awareness are shaped by the violent present. This despair, ladies and gentlemen, is the gravest danger looming over us, Israelis and Palestinians alike,’’ Rivlin said.

‘’If the international community really wishes and truly aspires to be a constructive player, it must divert its efforts away from the renewal of negotiations for negotiations’ sake, and toward building trust between the parties, and to creating the necessary terms for the success of negotiations in the future,’’ he said.

He said that the most fundamental trait of Israeli-Palestinian relations today ‘’is to my deep regret, a total lack of trust between the parties on all levels; between the leaderships and the peoples.’’

The Israeli president called the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz his friend and thanked him for the invitation to come in the European parliament in the same week as the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas is to address the EU assembly on Thursday.

‘’There can be no substitute for direct and joint conversation. In this act you have taken a step, albeit small, to bolster trust between the parties,’’ Rivlin said.

There has been speculations about a possible meeting between Rivlin and Abbas in Brussels. Eu leaders, including Schulz, were reportedly trying to arrange such a meeting.

In a joint statement to the press after Rivlin’s speech in the parliament, a journalist from Israeli radio asked him and the head of the European Parliament Martin Schultz about the possibility of such a meeting.

“Is a meeting between President Rivlin and President Abbas about to happen here in Brussels today or tomorrow,” she asked.

Schultz responded by saying it is up to Brussels’ traffic.

He explained that Abbas’ plane lands at about 6 p.m. and “taking into account the usual traffic jams here in Brussels between the airport and the EU parliament, I hope he will arrive in due time before President Rivlin will leave (the European parliament)”.

Schultz continued, “The diplomatic progress depends a little bit on the time tables of both. If they are both crossing the floors of the European Parliament, I think they will not run away.”

Rivlin added, “I assure you I will not run away.”

The Israeli president will wind up his 4-day visit here with meetings on Thursday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and EU foreign policy chif Federica Mogherini.

by Yossi Lempkowicz