Will the Real Culprit(s) Please Step Forward

EU retracts statement on settlements

Herb Keinon
THE JERUSALEM POST
Jul. 8, 2009

An EU official's statement earlier this week that settlements are strangling the Palestinian economy and costing the EU taxpayers money by fostering PA dependency on European aid does not reflect the opinion of the European Commission and was not issued with Brussels' approval, Israel's envoy to the EU was told Wednesday.

The envoy, Ran Curiel, met Wednesday in Brussels with a senior European Commission official who distanced himself from the statement, saying it was the initiative of Roy Dickinson, the No. 2 official at the European Commissions Technical Assistance Office in east Jerusalem.

According to the Foreign Ministry, and confirmed by a senior EU diplomat, Curiel was told Dickinson acted on his own initiative, and not according to directives emanating from Brussels.

The positions articulated in the statement do not reflect the position of EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferraro-Waldner, Curiel was told. The European Commission has given instruction to take the statement off of all official EU Web sites.

Wednesday's meeting in Brussels came a day after Foreign Ministry senior deputy director-general Rafi Barak summonsed EU Ambassador Ramiro Cibrian Uzal to the ministry to protest the statement.

According to the senior European Commission official, the unauthorized statement was part of the Technical Assistance Office's attempt to raise its profile and not only deal with aid and technical issues, but also with political ones, something Jerusalem wants to prevent.

Palestinians reject Netanyahu's 'economic peace' plan

By Barak Ravid
Haaretz Correspondent
09/07/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1098858.html

Prior to the elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented his program for "economic peace," which he said would improved the quality of life for Palestinians in the West Bank. However, 100 days after having formed his coalition government, there is no practical progress on economic projects.

The main reason for this is the refusal of senior Palestinian Authority officials to cooperate with Netanyahu and Vice Premier Silvan Shalom, who has been assigned the task of promoting the "economic peace" initiative.

The ministerial committee handling the matter met again Wednesday, deciding to open the Allenby Bridge to traffic 24 hours a day to encourage Palestinian imports and exports to Jordan.

Shalom also presented a list of projects that had been delayed for years due to various bureaucratic difficulties. These include an industrial zone in Bethlehem, (funded by France), as well as one near Jenin (funded by Germany and another near Jericho (paid for by Japan). Netanyahu had instructed all ministries to further his "economic peace" efforts by getting rid of red tape.

Palestinians block progress

The committee also discussed the PA's role in blocking progress. In essence, its senior officials are boycotting their Israeli counterparts.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas refuses to meet Netanyahu, and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will not meet with Silvan Shalom, while Palestinian officials are not permitted to meet their Israeli counterparts.

"Israel wants to promote economic peace, and I am calling for increased cooperation from the Palestinians," Shalom said during the meeting.

According to a senior political source, all contacts on economic issues with Palestinian officials are carried out through the Quartet's special envoy, Tony Blair. Even though the former British prime minister is pressing the Palestinians to meet with the Israelis, he has been unsuccessful.

"The Palestinians are concerned that if they cooperate on economic peace, Israel will be able to avoid the political process," the source said.

The Palestinian refusal to meet senior Israeli officials resulted in the cancellation of a joint conference scheduled to take place in Tokyo on the Jericho industrial zone.

It was to be attended by senior Japanese, Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian officials, but the Palestinians announced that at this stage they would not participate, saying this stemmed from the lack of progress on the peace process with Israel.