Israel will not prevent a two-state solution, Lapid tells German counterpart

Israel is “not going to build anything that will prevent the possibility of a future two-state solution,” the foreign minister stated.

By World Israel News Staff

During a joint press conference Thursday with his German counterpart in Tel Aviv, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid vowed that the current government — headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the right-wing Yamina party — is “not going to build anything that will prevent the possibility of a future two-state solution,” The Jerusalem Post reported.

“This government has made a policy of do no harm,” he said, in response to a question about Jewish settlements.

Rather, homes “will be built according to natural growth in the existing settlements,” he said, referring to Jewish communities in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

Currently on a visit to Israel, Egypt and Jordan – Israel being the first stop — Germany’s top diplomat Annalena Baerbock expressed her goal to help revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

“Even if the Middle East conflict seems like a crisis that has always existed for many, we cannot accept it as the status quo,” Baerbock said before her trip.

She reiterated Germany’s commitment to a negotiated two-state solution with a “functional, democratic and sovereign Palestinian state.”

“Every individual has the right to hold on to hope — especially the hope for peace,” she said.

Regarding the Iranian threat, Baerbock said that nuclear talks in Vienna are in the final stages.

She also pledged support for Israel’s security, saying that Germany has a “special historical responsibility for Israel’s security.”

Lapid stressed Israel’s security concerns amid the Iranian threat. “Iran is Hezbollah in the north, Iran is Hamas in the south, Iran is an exporter of terror from Yemen to Buenos Aires,” he said.