Delegations at the summit took several hours to hammer out a 10-page statement full of bland postulations of the EU's Eastern Partnership programme, but ahead of the meeting, Juncker was clearly in a more light-hearted mood.
A carefully-managed Manama conference on the "dialogue of civilisations" included Christian and Jewish delegations but excluded mainstream Shia or opposition clerics.
The comments came as it appeared that the Palestinian vote might require less than the widely reported 75% of the 209 member delegations to back Israel's suspension.
Both Palestinian and Israeli delegations in Zurich have been working around the clock since arriving in the midst of the biggest scandal to hit the world football organisation.
The Vatican also hosted delegations from the two countries at what were said to have been the talks at which the breakthrough was made.
It all began in Abu Dhabi in mid-January at the International Renewable Energy Agency's annual assembly, which included delegations from Iran and Israel led by their respective energy ministers.
In a rush to demonstrate their liberal credentials to their own populations, western governments and the majority of western media outlets failed to distinguish between the Putin government and the Russian people, only insulting the latter by politicizing the games, sending low-ranked delegations, and dishing up a feast of negativity.
In the runup to the vote both Palestinian and Israelis were trying to voice optimism about the outcome, with Israel suggesting it had assurances from some 70% of delegations.
This was in stark contrast to the United Nations general assembly last September, when the Iranian and Israeli delegations boycotted each other's speeches.
Joining him will be Conservative ministers, senior civil servants and council delegations from Glasgow through Leeds and Liverpool and down to Croydon.
Kenneth Hackett, the US ambassador to the Holy See, said a senior Vatican official had "played an important part in this historic moment by meeting US and Cuban delegations in October to help bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion".
