EU diplomat: "Difficult" to recommend Palestinians turn to UN

Oct 25, 2010, 15:25 GMT

Jerusalem - It would be difficult for the European Union to recommend to the Palestinians whether to seek United Nations recognition of their state, if Israel continues to refuse to freeze West Bank settlement construction, a senior EU diplomat said Monday.

'This situation is so much in flux, that it is difficult to recommend anything,' Christian Berger, the EU's representative for the West Bank and Gaza, told reporters in Jerusalem.

'For us as the European Union it is important that the peace process continues,' he said.

Nevertheless, he hinted that the idea of a UN resolution recognizing a Palestinian state might be raised at the ongoing meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians resumed in early September, 18 months after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the nationalist Likud party took office.

A 10-month partial freeze of construction at West Bank settlements imposed by Netanyahu to facilitate the start of the talks expired on September 26. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will not continue the talks unless the freeze is extended, which Netanyahu has publicly stated he will not do.

Officials within the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League have raised the idea of turning to the United Nations for a resolution that would recognize the Palestinians' right to a state within the borders which existed prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, in which Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan and the Gaza Strip from Egypt.

Berger said he sensed a 'willingness' among the Palestinians to continue the direct talks, but also concern that negotiations without a settlement freeze would undermine Abbas' standing among the Palestinian public, and gradually reduce the chances of a contiguous state.

Some, he added, nonetheless supported an approach according to which the issues of borders and security would be negotiated first, because 'then, by default, the settlement issue will be solved,' as Israel would be able to build on one side of the future line, but not on the other.

Andrew Standley, who heads the EU delegation to Israel, called for the settlement freeze to be extended.

'We've been very clear in saying that it would be very useful in terms of the negotiating process and in terms of building trust,' he said, adding 'settlement construction has always been seen by ourselves as illegal under international law.'

Asked whether the EU backed Netanyahu's demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, he would only say the Israeli demand should be addressed in the negotiations between the two parties.

Berger, meanwhile, said the flow of goods into the Gaza Strip had visibly improved since Israel eased restrictions on them in June. Calling on Israel to also ease restrictions on exports, he said the economic situation could only improve if industry would be allowed to produce.

Currently, Israel allows only the export of flowers and strawberries via its border, he said.

'There's a positive change in terms of consumer goods,' he said. 'It's quite obvious that more goods are coming in, but the problem is that there are very few people buying these goods, because people have no income.'

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