German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas alluded indirectly to Israel on Tuesday against taking unilateral steps that could hurt peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Creating facts unilaterally won’t help us in this already difficult situation. But no doors should be slammed shut either in view of developments in the United States,” said Maas, speaking after meeting with his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki, the AP reported.
German’s top diplomat didn’t specify particular unilateral measures, although his office on Monday criticized Israel’s call for tender for building new homes in eastern Jerusalem as a “step that sends the wrong signal at the wrong time.”
Maas also said that President-elect Joe Biden agrees with Germany’s position of a two-state solution based on negotiations between the two parties.
Maliki said a Biden presidency represents “a window of opportunity, and we want to take advantage of that window of opportunity in order really just to open a new page.”
According to the AP, he added that “we suffered tremendously, as Palestine, from [U.S. President Donald] Trump’s policies.”
