THE Palestinians have issued an angry reaction to Vice President Mike Pence’s speech to the Israeli parliament, saying it was a “gift to extremists.”

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said Mr Pence’s speech on Monday “has proven that the US administration is part of the problem rather than the solution”.

Mr Pence repeated the Trump administration’s controversial decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and said the American Embassy will be moved to the city next year, earlier than previously expected.

The US decision up-ended decades of American policy, and the stance of the international community, that the fate of Jerusalem be settled through negotiations.

The Palestinians claim Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as their capital and accuse the US of siding with Israel on the most sensitive issue in their conflict.

A group of Arab politicians voiced their displeasure at the Trump administration’s perceived pro-Israel bias by raising banners reading “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine” and heckling Mr Pence at the beginning of his address, before being forcibly removed from the plenum.

The main Arab party in the Israeli parliament warned ahead of time it would boycott Mr Pence. Its leader, Ayman Odeh, vowed they would not provide a “silent backdrop” to a man he called a “dangerous racist.”

Mr Pence responded to the ruckus by saying he was humbled to speak before such a “vibrant democracy,” before delving into his prepared remarks about the two countries’ unbreakable bond.

“I am here to convey one simple message. America stands with Israel. We stand with Israel because your cause is our cause, your values are our values, and your fight is our fight,” he said.

“We stand with Israel because we believe in right over wrong, good over evil, and liberty over tyranny.” Pence said the American administration urged the Palestinians to return to negotiations. “Peace can only come through dialogue,” he said.

Mr Pence said the US would support a two-state solution, but only if both sides support it. Netanyahu’s hard-line government is dominated by opponents to Palestinian statehood, making such a scenario unlikely.

EU BACKS PALESTINE OVER JERUSALEM

It comes as European Union has assured President Mahmoud Abbas it supports his ambition to have East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.

It is the bloc’s latest rejection of US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

At a meeting in Brussels with EU foreign ministers, Mr Abbas repeated his call for East Jerusalem as capital as he urged EU governments to recognise a state of Palestine immediately, arguing that this would not disrupt negotiations with Israel on a peace settlement for the region.

While Mr Abbas made no reference to Mr Trump’s move on Jerusalem or US Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to the city on Monday, his presence at the EU headquarters in Brussels was seized on by European officials as a chance to restate opposition to Trump’s December 6 decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. Mogherini, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to Mr Trump’s Jerusalem decision, called on those involved in the process to speak and act “wisely”, with a sense of responsibility.

“I want to reassure President Abbas of the firm commitment of the European Union to the two-state solution with Jerusalem as the shared capital of the two states,” Mr Mogherini said.

Deputy German Foreign Minister Michael Roth told reporters that Mr Trump’s decision had made peace talks harder but said all sides needed to resolve the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.

Mr Abbas also struck a more diplomatic tone than in his recent public remarks, including earlier this month when he said he would only accept a broad, internationally-backed panel to broker any peace talks with Israel. “We are keen on continuing the way of negotiations,” Abbas said. “We are determined to reunite our people and our land.” But his call for the European Union to immediately and officially recognise the state of Palestine was unlikely to be answered, two senior EU diplomats said. While nine EU governments including Sweden and Poland already recognise Palestine, the 28-nation bloc says such recognition must come as part of a peace settlement.

The European Union also wants the Palestinians to remain open to a US-led peace plan, expected to be presented soon by Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s Middle East envoy and Mr Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.