Is it true that the US Vice President’s trip to the Middle East has hit a wall one after another?

On the 22nd, US Vice President Pence, who was visiting Jerusalem, delivered a speech in the Israeli Knesset, expressing the US position of recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The speech triggered fierce protests from Arab lawmakers present, and even physical conflicts broke out.

Pence called Jerusalem the capital of Israel

In his speech that day, Pence clearly called Jerusalem the capital of Israel and expressed the plan to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The official launch will take place in a few weeks and the new embassy location will be open before the end of 2019.

Members of Israeli Arab political parties protested

Pence’s speech was boycotted by members of the Israeli Arab political party, the United Arab League.

Some congressmen not only refused to applaud Pence when he entered the room, but also protested during Pence's speech. Some people shouted that Pence was an "unpopular" person, and some raised banners with "(Eastern) ) with the slogan "Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine", the protesting congressman had shoving and even physical conflicts with other surrounding congressmen, and was finally forced to leave the scene.

The organizer of this protest and the leader of the United Arab League in Israel, Ayman Oda, later told the media

The leader of the United Arab League in Israel, Ayman Oda: The message we want to send is that not the entire Knesset supports Trump or Pence. As the third largest party in the Israeli Knesset, we are completely opposed to their policies (on the Palestinian-Israeli issue).

The Jerusalem issue is one of the crux of the Palestinian-Israeli issue

The status of Jerusalem is one of the crux of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. After Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, it unilaterally declared the entire Jerusalem to be its "permanent and indivisible capital", while Palestine demanded the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The international community generally does not recognize Israel's sovereignty over the entire Jerusalem, and many countries that have diplomatic relations with Israel have their embassies in Tel Aviv instead of Jerusalem. In early December last year, U.S. President Trump announced that he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and would start the process of moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The international community generally expressed opposition to this.

Pence’s trip to the Middle East has hit a wall one after another

Pence’s visit to Israel is the third stop of his trip to the Middle East. The first two stops, Egypt and Jordan, were both for the United States in the Middle East. It is an important ally in the region and the only two Arab countries that have diplomatic relations with Israel. However, in these two countries, Pence also "hit the wall" one after another.

On the 20th, Egyptian President Sisi clearly expressed his support for Palestine during his meeting with Pence. On the 21st, King Abdullah II of Jordan also told Pence that the latest US decision on the status of Jerusalem cannot solve the Palestinian-Israeli issue, and Jordan hopes that the US can respect the historical status of Jerusalem.

Pence’s trip to the Middle East was originally scheduled for December last year, but was postponed due to US President Trump’s announcement to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Pence is the first senior U.S. official to visit the Middle East since then.

The EU supports Jerusalem as the capital of both Palestine and Israel

Unlike U.S. Vice President Pence’s Middle East trip that has hit a wall one after another, on the 22nd, Palestinian President Abbas visited The EU headquarters in Brussels has received support from the EU on the status of Jerusalem.

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Mogherini stated at a press conference held with President Abbas on the 22nd that the EU supports Jerusalem as a commonwealth between Palestine and Israel. capital.

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Mogherini: First of all, I would like to reassure President Abbas and his team that the EU’s commitment to the two-state solution remains firm and that Jerusalem should be a two-state solution. The same capital city of two countries (Palestine and Israel).

Abbas urges the EU to promote the Middle East peace process

At the press conference, in addition to reaffirming that East Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state, Abbas also called on EU member states to formally recognize Palestine country.

He also urged the EU to continue promoting the Middle East peace process.

Palestinian President Abbas: At the same time, we believe that the EU should play a political role in the Middle East peace process to ensure that a just solution can be reached based on terms and resolutions recognized by the international community.