With regard to the settlements, we agreed to disagree.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discussing the topic of settlement expansion. Akiva Eldar analyzes the implications of her comments at Al-Monitor:
The formula of “agreeing to disagree” regarding the settlement policy is not a German invention. For most of Israel’s 45 years of occupation in the territories, the international community has relayed a message in that vein to the Israeli public. Palestinians leaders likened the phenomenon of building settlements in the territories while concurrently negotiating their future to a person eating a pizza slice while negotiating whose it is.
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Al-Monitor’s diplomacy and foreign affairs blogger Laura Rozen reports on a four-hour dinner meeting in Istanbul between the European Union’s foreign policy chief and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator. Iran stressed its desire for continued negotiations, avoiding the hectoring tone that’s characterized some of their recent international negotiations. Read Laura’s full report.
