Czech’s right-wing president calls on Israel to abandon ‘two-state solution’
Czech President Milos Zeman has asked his Israeli counterpart Reuven
Rivlin to see plans for a one-state solution after admitting that he no
longer believes in a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine
conflict.
Zeman, who arrived in Israel yesterday for an official state visit to
open “Czech House” cultural centre in Jerusalem, told Rivlin he was
looking forward to ideas for a “one-state with two nations” while
asserting that he did not envision the Gaza Strip as part of an
independent Palestinian state, Israel’s i24 news reported.
“I do not see how an independent state can be created in Gaza because
Hamas promotes a state of terror,” Zeman said. Rivlin feted the
pro-Israeli far-right president describing him as as “one of Jerusalem’s
closest friends” and thanked him for his pledge to relocate the Czech
embassy to the city.
“Your support for Jerusalem is a special gift for us on our 70th
anniversary. We are so thankful for your support for relocating the
Embassy of the Czech Republic to Jerusalem. Your recent statements are a
clear sign of your support for this, and we hope that it will become
reality in the near future,” Rivlin said.
Zeman’s right wing and hard-line anti-Muslim, anti-immigration and
anti-EU policy won him the presidency at the beginning of the year. He
has been known to stoke controversy and community tension through his
conspiracy fuelled message. He subscribes to the widely held conspiracy
theory held by the far-right and many pro-Israeli groups which claims
that the streams of refugees from Syria and Iraq constitute a conspiracy
of the Muslim Brotherhood and the “Islamisation of Europe”.
Zeman is in Israel to inaugurate the new “Czech House” cultural centre
in Jerusalem tomorrow alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
marking what is said to be the first step in the process of eventually
relocating the country’s embassy to the city.
According to i24 news the new “Czech House” will shelter government
institutions including the foreign ministry’s Czech Centre, the
CzechTrade agency and CzechTourism agency.
The decision to move the embassy is extremely controversial. Under
International law, Israel’s presence in East Jerusalem is a military
occupation and its ongoing annexation of the city is a violation of
international humanitarian law. The overwhelming majority of countries
view the eastern part of the city as the capital of a future independent
Palestinian state.
Israel captured East Jerusalem during the 1967 war and later annexed it
in a move not recognised by the international community. It declared the
territory part of its unified capital, a move that had not been
endorsed by any leader until US President Donald Trump moved the
American embassy to the city in May.
A number of right-wing leaders have endorsed the move and promised to
follow suit including Brazil’s far right president-elect Jair Bolsonaro.
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