Benjamin Netanyahu meets and dines with Angela Merkel in Berlin Wednesday night. But the Israeli PM is smarting from Germany's UN vote abstention and the German chancellor is seething over Israel's settlements. It could be a frosty dinner.
Nearly a week after Germany abstained from voting on a resolution upgrading the Palestinians’ status at the UN in a last-minute reversal that incensed Israel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Berlin Wednesday night amid strained relations between the two allies.
Netanyahu arrives in the German capital after a clash between the Israeli and German governments on the contentious Israeli settlement issue, which followed Germany’s abstention at the UN General Assembly vote.
A day after the November 29 vote granting the Palestinians “non-member observer” status at the UN, Israel announced plans to build new settlements in the sensitive “E1” zone east of Jerusalem – a prospect that would cut access from the West Bank to East Jerusalem.
Germany has joined the chorus of European condemnations over the move, calling it “a negative message” that is “eroding trust in its [Israel’s] willingness to negotiate” as “the land for a future Palestinian state is disappearing further”.
Read more: Frosty diners: Merkel meets Netanyahu amid strained ties
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