Montenegro defends the “balance” in the Government’s position on Israel and says it is “stunned” by the position of the PS

Luís Montenegro demanded this Thursday an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza and condemned “the excessive use of force” by Israel, as well as the “unjustified position” of the Tel Aviv Government in considering the secretary general of the UN, António Guterres.

This position of the Portuguese Government was expressed this morning, during the preparatory debate for the European Council being held in Brussels between Thursday and Friday. “It is urgent to reverse the escalation of tensions and the trivialization of violence in Gaza,” argued Montenegro, also considering “unacceptable incidents that have caused injuries to peacekeepers in United Nations missions in Lebanon.”

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict ended up marking much of the debate, with the most left-wing parties demanding a stronger position from the Portuguese Government in condemning Israel and with the most right-wing seats defending Tel Aviv’s right to defend itself from threats. .

On the left, socialists pressured the Government to commit to a deadline for recognizing the State of Palestine…nobody understands that a two-state solution is advocated but we only recognize one,” he even criticized João Paulo Rebelo.

Bloco de Esquerda, PCP, Livre and PAN demanded that the Portuguese State actively defend the end of the association agreement between the European Union and Israel, as well as the total embargo on arms shipments to Israel, referring to what is happening in Palestine as a “genocide”and a”massacre“.

On the right, Chega, through the voice of Ricardo Dias Pinto, maintained that “Israel is fighting a battle of life or death against the forces of religious obscurantism” and lamented that Europe is “betraying” Tel Aviv when it fights against the “enemies of the west”. In this regard, Ricardo Dias Pinto also tried to insert Paulo Rangel, Minister of Foreign Affairs, into the agenda of the extreme left, with statements about Israel that “are not at all reassuring.”

Naturally, without criticizing the Government’s position, João Almeida, of the CDS, did not fail to emphasize that Israel has “the right to defend itself against terrorist threats” and that a two-state solution always presupposes the existence of “two free States.” . “A state captured by terrorists It is not a free state. What we want is for that path to be taken,” concluded João Almeida.

In the end, in the face of criticism, Montenegro defended the positions adopted by its Executive. “When here we are attacked so vehemently by extreme right and at the same time for extreme left As for our position, this means one thing: we are in the center, we are in moderation, we are neither at one extreme nor at the other. It is the first important sign of balance of the Portuguese position,” said the prime minister.

The head of government still could not resist provoking the opposition. “I even get a little thunderstruck Regarding, for example, the PS, but also the PCP and the BE – which were complicit in the governance between 2015 and 2022 – we never saw them with such vehemence during those years and there were already conflicts in the Middle East and there was already tension and “There has already been an attempt to recognize the Palestinian State.”

Montenegro did not commit, however, to a unilateral recognition of the State of Palestine, recalling, despite everything, that the Portuguese State voted in favor of the recognition of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations. “It is not a step few”, argument.

Furthermore, the prime minister promised to actively condemn all “human rights violations” that occur in that region, whether caused by Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran. In this sense, and pointing the finger directly at a part of the left, Montenegro regretted. the fact that he had not witnessed a conviction”so firm”in relation to Iran’s “terrorist attacks.”