The Chancellor clearly stated her support for the 2-state-solution, granting safety and viability to Israel and a Palestinian state. Furthermore, she lauded the Arabic peace initiative and the results provided by the Arab League summit in Riad, and stressed her opinion that the formation of the national unity government resulted in a new dynamic for a solution to the Middle East conflict.

However, Merkel cautioned about exaggerated expectations. Peace is nothing that could “just simply be imposed”. Still, if one takes Israel’s right to existence seriously, one will have to support finding a solution to the Middle East conflict. Though Merkel assessed the agreement between Fatah and Hamas in Mekka as a small first step in the right direction, she outlined the meaning of the conditions concerning the cooperation with the Palestinian government, which are demanded by the quartet EU, UNO, USA and Russia. According to these terms, Israel’s right to exist has to be accepted, violence has to be banished and previous agreements have to be acknowledged. In accordance with Hamas’ refusal to accept these terms, the EU will not hold contacts to any ministers of Hamas.

Merkel encouraged the involved parties to release the Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, since that would be regarded as important confidence-building measure and a sign of good will.