The resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute has been an issue of strategic and common interest for the  European Union (EU) and the United States (USA). The Middle East Peace Process (MEPP) was initiated  through the 1991 Madrid Conference, co-sponsored by the Soviet Union and the USA. In 2002 in Madrid,  the USA and the EU formalised their cooperation on the MEPP through the creation of the Middle East  Quartet, which they are members of alongside Russia and the United Nations (UN), with the stated goal to  revive multilateralism for the advance of the two-state solution. However, from its onset, the Quartet has  not met expectations and has failed to deliver a strong multilateral message to drive progress. The most  recent developments, such as the clashes in Gaza and the acts of violence in the West Bank of the summer  of 2022, indicate that despite the numerous initiatives of international actors, up to this day they have  failed to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

Although the EU was previously recognised as an influential norm-setter in regard to the MEPP and has  contributed to the shaping of international parameters that have later influenced the negotiation process,  it seems that its impact on the MEPP has diminished in recent years. The limits to the EU’s influence result  to a large extent from the structural and endogenous characteristics of its foreign policy, and in particular  its reliance on unanimity. 

As for the USA, the Biden administration has, thus far, been unwilling to reverse the previous  administration’s actions that have made it even more difficult to reach a just and durable solution impossible. Although US statements have become more critical of violence (including by Israeli settlers),  settlements, evictions and human rights violations, the Biden administration has not fundamentally  changed course and the US President’s visit to the region in the summer of 2022 confirmed that the MEPP  would not be a priority for the USA in the years to come.

The difference in priorities between the EU and the USA, which implies different dynamics when it comes  to the relationships with the both the Palestinians and the Israelis, has become less obvious. Essentially, for  the USA, the MEPP is notoriously secondary and independent to its relationship with Israel, which has become an integral part of US domestic politics. In turn, the EU has historically linked the MEPP with its bilateral relationshipwith Israel, although this linkage is challenged and has largely ebbed.