Europe's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton travelled to Israel and the Palestinian territories this weekend in an attempt to get the parties to return to the negotiating table and get the Middle East Peace Process back on track.Â
Palestine is preparing to apply for membership of the United Nations in September. Ashton wants to push the Palestineans and Israel to get back to the negotiating table. The talks have been suspended for almost a year because of the dispute over Jewish settlements in Palestine.
Ashton met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Sunday and also discussed the peace process with Norway's foreign minister.
In her meeting with Israeli government representatives, Ashton was told that Israel feels that the Palestinian plan to seek UN statehood recognition is "counter-productive" and "misguided."
Ashton's three-day visit to the Middle East ends on Monday with a visit to Jordan's King Abdullah.
