The President of the European Union Parliament, Roberta Metsola, is scheduled to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories from May 22 until 24.
On Sunday, she will speak before a special session of Knesset, and is scheduled to meet with President Isaac Herzog, Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Yair Lapid, and other senior Israeli figures in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
During her visit, she will also visit Yad Vashem, meet with students at Tel Aviv University, and inaugurate the Europa Forest observatory near Beit Shemesh.
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In Ramallah, President Metsola is scheduled to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Earlier this month, she met Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and said that the EU Parliament “is ready to play its part to find a way forward” for peace talks, while reiterating “support holding the long-due elections without delay” in the Palestinian territories.
President Metsola’s visit is her first since her election to her post in January 2022, and is the first by a president of the European Parliament in Israel since 2014.
President Metsola, 42, is the youngest person to hold her post in EU history, and the first from Malta.
President Metsola is expected to bring a message of hope, a call to strengthen ties between the European Union and both Israel and the Palestinians, and to offer the resources and goodwill of the European Parliament in reigniting the Middle East peace process.
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