Hungarian FM Szijjártó and White House adviser Kushner discuss coronavirus measures, Israel

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and Jared Kushner, the White House’s senior adviser on the Middle East, discussed coronavirus pandemic measures and current international politics concerning Israel on Wednesday.

Szijjártó said on Facebook that they had informed one another about their country’s achievements in containing the coronavirus epidemic and expressed appreciation over their efforts.

International political developments concerning Israel and the current status of a peace plan for the Middle East were also discussed, he said.

Szijjártó assured his partner about Hungary’s continued interest in the success of the peace plan which gives a realistic chance for peace, security and prosperity in the region.

Szijjártó called Israel Hungary’s ally, adding that

Hungary will continue to reject, as it did before, any unilateral and inequitable international political approach towards that country.

• Ministry: Hungary welcomes ‘all initiatives’ to resolve Israel-Palestine situation

Palestine says to declare statehood on 1967 borders if Israel annexes West Bank lands

The Palestinian government on Tuesday threatened to declare Palestine as a state along the internationally recognized 1967 borders if Israel presses ahead with its plan to annex parts of the West Bank.

The warning was issued by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye at a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Annexation is an “existential threat” that would mark the “total erosion of our national aspirations,” as it will kill any possibility of peace with Israel and erode “the Palestinian, regional and international consensus” on a two-state solution, Ishtaye told reporters.

Palestine will not wait for an agreement with Israel if the latter declares annexation of the West Bank lands in July, he warned.

Ishtaye noted that the Palestinians have rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan known as the Deal of the Century.

A four-and-a-half page counterproposal to Trump’s plan has been submitted to the quartet of Middle East mediators: the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, said the Palestinian prime minister.

It proposed a demilitarized Palestinian state with “minor border modification wherever it is needed” and exchanges of land equal “in size and volume and in value” with Israel, he told reporters.

On Monday, Ishtaye said

Palestine will stop its recognition of Israel if the Israeli government implements its annexation plan.

On May 19, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared the abolition of all agreements signed with Israel and the United States, including security coordination, in response to the Israeli plan to annex the occupied West Bank territories.

Source: MTI