Bennett meets EU's Martin Schulz for 'reconciliation meeting' in Brussels

[Jefferson23]

During a tense meeting in Brussels, Bennett attempts to explain the Knesset walk-out - but stops short of an apology.

By Barak Ravid | Feb. 20, 2014

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett held a “reconciliation meeting” with European Parliament Speaker Martin Schulz in Brussels Wednesday, a week after walking out of the latter's Knesset address to protest remarks he made about the Palestinian issue.

Bennett is in Brussels for the Union for the Mediterranean Ministerial Meeting on Industrial Cooperation. The meeting with Schulz had been scheduled long before the Knesset incident, but subsequent events made the encounter particularly charged. The scheduled 20-minute meeting ended up lasting 50 minutes.

Sources close to Bennett who attended the meeting said that it started out very tensely. Bennett brought up the Knesset incident on his own accord, and while he did not apologize for it - nor for the heckling directed at Schultz by his party members - Bennett did try to clarify what was behind his actions.

Bennett told Schulz that he frequently sees erroneous data being used to traduce Israel, and when he heard Schulz’s remarks about the difference in water allocations between the Palestinians and the settlements he just couldn't let it slide. “I couldn’t live with false statements so I left the hall,” he said.

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