RAMALLAH, March 3, 2018 (WAFA) – A Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official denied on Saturday Israeli reports that the European Union (EU) has presented a political initiative on the Middle East conflict to the United States.

Speaking to Voice of Palestine radio, Ahmad Majdalani, member of the PLO’s Executive Committee, said if the EU had come up with a new initiative on its own, it would have presented it to the Palestinians first before discussing it with the Americans.

He praised the EU’s position toward the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as balanced.

“It’s balanced position that adheres to the two-state solution and a political process that would lead to peace,” he said, adding that the EU is opposed to any solution with predetermined dictates, such as in Jerusalem or refugees.

The PLO official said the US is currently following a new policy toward the Palestinians, which includes telling them what to do based on its own perspective of a solution to the conflict with Israel.

None of the previous US administrations has followed a policy of dictates in spite of their bias toward Israel, but rather they always sought ways to close the gap between the conflicting parties, he said.

Majdalani said a PLO committee is going to recommend convening the Palestinian National Council (PNC), the highest Palestinian decision making body and the PLO’s parliament in exile, before the middle of this year.

The PLO committee was set up during the last Executive Committee meeting with a mission to draw plans for implementing the decisions of the Palestinian Central Council (PCC), the second highest decision making body after the PNC, which lately met in Ramallah.

The PLO official said the committee will hold its last meeting on Monday before presenting its recommendations to the upcoming Executive Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

The PCC held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the aftermath of the US decision recognizing Jerusalem as capital of Israel and how to confront it.

M.K.