Israel under fire on peace commitment

Date: 17/07/1997

By Mark Turner

ISRAEL's Foreign Affairs Minister David Levy will come under pressure from EU governments to demonstrate his commitment to the Middle East peace process when he visits Brussels next week.

Although the EU did not sponsor a harshly critical United Nations resolution against the country's activities in East Jerusalem this week, it remains unconvinced by Israel's commitment to the peace process and will demand more action.

Member states want to see Israel take serious steps to help the Palestinians develop their isolated economy, building on demands made by heads of state at the Amsterdam summit in June. Measures might include, for example, granting travel permits for Palestinians to enter Israel proper, or opening the airport in Gaza. While such calls would carry more weight coming from Washington, they reflect growing EU involvement in the Middle East peace process.

Already the biggest financial contributor to the region, the Union has, in the guise of its special envoy Miguel Moratinos, become increasingly vocal about Israeli-Palestinian relations. Its involvement has been welcomed as a useful complement to the generally more pro-Israeli position espoused by the US.

Given Moratinos' close involvement in Egyptian-led efforts to keep the peace process on track, Levy will be aware of the need to convince EU foreign ministers that Jerusalem is serious about conciliation. He will also have to account for his government's activities before the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, which has been highly critical of Israel's conduct, and European Commission President Jacques Santer.

Israeli diplomats stress, however, that the focus of the visit will be EU-Israeli economic relations and not the peace process. “This is a standard visit, which we are holding because the minister has not been to Brussels for so long,” said a spokesman for Israel's mission to the EU.

“We will be celebrating, for example, a recent agreement on government procurement. Of course we expect EU politicians will want to hear about the general situation, which is rather delicate at the moment.”