Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has welcomed the fact that the Arab League supports proximity talks and hopes that the talks between Israelis and Palestinians will get underway this week as planned.

”Proximity talks can build the necessary trust to pave the way for negotiations leading to a two-state solution.

It is now up to the parties to the conflict to act constructively and to seize this opportunity.

Along with our partners we will support Israel and the Palestinians as best we can so that negotiations can get underway.“