Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said on Monday, "The European Union must condemn Abu Mazen's statement that Israel is a colonial project of the Europeans." Meeting with EU Ambassador to Israel Emanuele Giaufret, She said that "Abu Mazen's harsh words in his speech yesterday, which are a combination of lies and condemnation of the American administration, deserve harsh criticism."
Hotovely stressed, "The Palestinians cannot continue to fund terror and seek an embrace and support from Europeans, through demands for unilateral recognition." She added, "The European Union must act decently towards Israel in its actions in the region and understand that it is the Palestinians who perpetuate the conflict through the use of UNRWA and their refusal to come to the negotiating table. We expect the EU not to continue to build illusions among the Palestinians: American recognition of Jerusalem is the natural and correct thing, and we expect the European countries to adopt the decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel."