[CS-FSLUG] Israel, Europe Could Be on Collision Course

[Fred Miller]

http://www.sierratimes.com/04/10/14/rt_israel.htm
Israel, Europe Could Be on Collision Course -Report
Reuters

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel could end up on a collision course with the
European Union and face sanctions like apartheid-era South Africa unless the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved, a confidential government report
warns.

The document, a 10-year forecast prepared by Israel's Foreign Ministry, 
predicts that the Jewish state could become increasingly isolated 
internationally as the EU grows more influential, political sources said.

The report says that if the recently expanded 25-nation bloc can set aside
internal differences and forge a unified foreign policy, it could "harm 
Israeli interests" by cutting into the clout wielded by the United States, 
Israel's chief ally.

"This could put Israel on a collision course with the European Union," the
report says. "Such a collision course holds the risk of Israel losing
international legitimacy and could lead to its isolation in the manner of 
South Africa."

The report, drawn up in August by Foreign Ministry analysts and meant for use
within government circles, reflects growing Israeli worries about the threat 
of international sanctions that could turn Israel into a pariah state.

Israel's relations with the EU have long been strained over what it sees as
favoritism toward the Palestinians in their conflict with the Jewish state.

But the situation has deteriorated further in the face of European criticism 
of Israel's military crackdown in Palestinian areas and the vast barrier it 
is building largely inside the occupied West Bank.

For its part, Israel has complained of what it sees as growing anti-Semitism 
in Europe and inadequate efforts to combat it.

STALLED PEACEMAKING

Israel prefers to deal almost exclusively with Washington on Middle East
diplomacy. President Bush is seen as the most pro-Israel U.S. leader ever,
having agreed the Jewish state should be allowed to keep swathes of occupied
land and bar the return of Palestinian refugees under any final peace deal.

But Palestinians have always insisted on a European role, seeing them as more
sympathetic to their cause than Washington.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threatened in July to freeze the EU out of Middle
East peacemaking after EU states backed a U.N. General Assembly resolution
demanding that Israel heed a World Court ruling calling on it to tear down its
West Bank barrier.

Israel calls it a bulwark against Palestinian suicide bombers. Palestinian 
have condemned it as a "racist apartheid wall" and a land grab that denies 
them a viable state.

On Wednesday, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana unveiled a four-point plan
to revive Middle East talks, offering new assistance to the Palestinians and
warning Israel its aid was at risk if it did not cooperate.

But Israeli suspicions of EU intentions limit the chances of success for
Solana's initiative. The EU is a junior member of an international "Quartet" 
of Middle East peacemakers and takes a back seat to the United States.

Meanwhile, Palestinian leaders at the United Nations have begun pushing for
sanctions against Israel, citing as a model the anti-apartheid boycotts 
against South Africa that began in the 1970s.

But the United States, which wields a veto in the U.N. Security Council, has
made clear that it would block any such effort.
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Yes.....UNLESS Kerry gets elected!!!

Fred

-- 
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to 
have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the
vote." - Benjamin Franklin 1759