PES delegation holds high-level meetings in Israel and Palestine

In remembrance of the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a delegation from the Party of European Socialists (PES) has visited Israel and Palestine. The delegation - composed of PES Secretary General Giacomo Filibeck, Hana Jalloul Muro MEP and Evin Incir MEP - held a series of high-level meetings to assess developments in the Middle East.

On 4 November - the 29th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination - the delegation laid flowers at a memorial in Tel Aviv, exchanged with the leader of the Israeli Democrats - Yair Golan - and its representatives in the Knesset, and met with families of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October.

PES Secretary General Giacomo Filibeck said:

"The wisdom of Yitzhak Rabin represents all that is missing from the current Israeli government.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu is focused on war, continuing to perpetrate daily military attacks on Gaza. The military response to the horrific attack on Israel, which we condemn unreservedly, has already led to the death of more than 42,000 Palestinians, including 6,000 women and 11,000 children, and this has created a tragic and unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

"With this approach, we believe Netanyahu is cynically undermining any possibility of achieving a deal to release the Israeli hostages. As the PES, we stand with our Israeli partners the Democrats, led by Yair Golan, for negotiations to bring the hostages home. Achieving this deal should be Netanyahu's number one priority."

The day before, the delegation visited Ramallah, where it held meetings with the prime minister of the State of Palestine Mohammad Mustafa and state secretary Dr Farsin Aghabekian Shaheen. The delegation also spoke with survivors of settler violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

PES Secretary General Giacomo Filibeck said:

"Unspeakable pain and cruelty - this is what the survivors of settler violence have endured in the occupied West Bank. We are shocked by the reports that we have heard today from Palestinian victims. The fact that the Netanyahu government is held hostage by the hard-right movements that perpetrate this violence is a poison to all hopes for a future lasting peace."

The delegation - the second to visit the region following the 7 October attack - reiterated the need to reach a lasting political solution for the Middle East, as set out in the latest PES Congress resolution.