Berlin - German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle reiterated his government's support for a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, ahead of his trip to the region later Monday. Israel has the "right to secure borders," while the Palestinians "also have the right to have their own state," the minister said during a press conference in Berlin.
Earlier, the spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel had sharply criticized Israel over new plans to build housing on occupied land in East Jerusalem.
"The building of settlements in East Jerusalem is a huge stumbling block on the road to sustainable advances in the peace process," spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told journalists.
The housing units are to be built in Gilo, which Israel says is a suburb of Jerusalem, but which is located on land captured in the 1967 Middle East War and claimed by Palestinians as the capital of their future state. Plans for the construction were announced on November 17.
"The cessation of settlement building, including so-called natural growth, is part of the road-map to which Israel has agreed," Wilhelm said.
Westerwelle is meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for talks. He is also set to visit the Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem.
The foreign minister is due to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah on Tuesday.
The visit will be Westerwelle's first as foreign minister, following his appointment in October after national elections.
However the leader of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) is preceded in Israel by the reputation of former FDP politician, Juergen Moellemann, who resigned his post in 2003 following what some saw as anti-Semitic comments.
Westerwelle told reporters on Monday that he did not think Moellemann's previous comments would play a role during his visit to Israel, as they had "other problems", including the potential possession of a nuclear weapon by Iran.
