New York, NY, December 17, 2014 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned the European Parliament’s resolution on recognition of a Palestinian state, calling it “frivolous.” The resolution adopted today claims to support “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.”
Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:
However frivolous this resolution may be, it will add legitimacy in Europe to the evasive Palestinian campaign to internationalize the conflict by engaging everyone and anyone but the government of Israel. The right European response would have been to tell the Palestinians to go back to the negotiating table and stop making unrealistic and unreasonable demands.
This same principle applies to all the talk about a U.N. Security Council resolution on the conflict. The sooner the international community stops giving away free prizes to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the sooner he is likely to conclude that direct negotiations are the only way forward.
In addition, the resolution simply papers over the ongoing schism between Hamas and Fatah and the unresolved threat to Israel of resumed terrorist attacks from Gaza. The European Parliament has simply thrown its support behind the international diplomatic intifada being waged by President Abbas, whose rhetoric of incitement against Israel in recent weeks amply demonstrates his stubborn unwillingness to seriously engage in sustained negotiations with Israel.