European Union initiatives to strengthen foreign policy have been boosted this week with Jordan’s King Abdullah ii calling for the EU to play a more effective role in Israeli-Palestinian relations. The king’s statements came in a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi on Sunday.

In the meeting, which covered the Iraqi situation and Lebanon as well as the impasse between Israel and the Palestinians, the king impressed upon Prodi the need to apply international pressure in order to bring both sides to the negotiation table. He cited President Bush’s call for an international meeting in November to address the situation as an opportunity to bring about talks between the two.

Before the meeting, Prodi said he was disquieted by Palestinian infighting, referring in part to Hamas’s bloody takeover of the Gaza Strip from its Fatah rivals.

“I am sure that the Palestinian division will bring a negative consequence for any future developments in the area,” he said.

European involvement in the Middle East’s so-called peace process ultimately will be dangerous for Israel, even if its government welcomes in the EU at first. Watch for more Middle Eastern leaders to look to Europe to play peacemaker where others have failed. To find out what Germany, Italy, the Vatican and other EU powers will bring to the Middle East, read Jerusalem in Prophecy.