Kono urges Israel, Palestine to advance peace talks

December 26, 2017

Jerusalem- Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono urged the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to advance their peace negotiations when he met with them respectively on Monday.

Kono held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

The foreign minister told the two leaders that Japan supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He also said the status of Jerusalem should be determined through direct negotiations between the parties involved.

Regarding U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, Abbas said that he does not intend to resort to violence and that he wants to step up dialogue and negotiations.

Kono said to Abbas that the United States' involvement would be important for stability in the Middle East, seeking the Palestinians' calm response to Trump's decision.

Meanwhile, Kono and Netanyahu agreed that negotiations are important and that the United States has a role to play.

"I got the impression that both of the parties involved have no reluctance to negotiate," Kono told reporters after the talks. "I want to work on confidence-building and the creation of an environment where the two sides can sit and talk calmly."

Kono was the first foreign minister of a major country to visit Israel and Palestine since the United States announced its recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital earlier this month.

Last week, Japan voted in favor of a U.N. General Assembly resolution rejecting the capital recognition, clarifying that the country takes a neutral stance on the matter and leaves the involved parties to find a solution through negotiations.

In his talks with Abbas, Kono conveyed Japan's plan to promote its Corridor for Peace and Prosperity support program for the Palestinians.

Kono and Netanyahu agreed to step up economic cooperation between their countries.

Also on Monday, the Japanese foreign minister visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and laid flowers for the victims.

He took a look at a tree planted on the memorial's site in honor of the late Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, who issued transit visas to thousands of Jews in 1940 to help them escape Nazi persecution during World War II.

After the war ended, Sugihara was in effect dismissed by the ministry. But his honor was redeemed in 2000 when then Foreign Minister Yohei Kono, Taro's father, apologized to Sugihara's family. Jiji Press