The European Union decided on Monday to renew the EU-Israel Association Council for the first time since 2012, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced Monday.
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The Association Council, which was established in 1996, is a meeting that is meant to occur annually between Israel and the EU to cover matters of mutual concern. Prime Minister Yair Lapid, during his recent stint as foreign minister, made it a goal to reconvene the forum.
It is the senior diplomatic body in charge of promoting relations between Israel and the European Union, including in the diplomatic, economic, and technological spheres.
"Ministers agreed that this was the highest level forum for our bilateral relationship," Borrell said of the decision.
"The fact that 27 EU Foreign Ministers have voted unanimously in favor of strengthening economic and diplomatic ties with Israel is proof of Israel's diplomatic strength and this government's ability to create new opportunities with the international community," Lapid said in the wake of the decision.
In regards to the Middle East peace process, the EU's position "has not changed," Borrell added. "We continue with the same council conclusion of 2016 supporting the two-state solution.
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"We know that situation on the ground in the Palestinian territories is deteriorating, and I think that the ministers agreed that this Association Council would be a good occasion to engage with Israel about these issues," he continued.
It was Israel that originally withdrew from the framework in 2012, in protest of the EU's decision at the time to distinguish between Israel and Judea and Samaria. In recent years, however, Jerusalem has applied diplomatic pressure to revive the forum.
Lapid participated in a meeting of the EU's foreign ministers last year, as the chief diplomat in then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's government, and defined convening the Association Council as a prime objective for Israel-EU relations.
A date for the Council's next meeting is yet to be set.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
