Israel summons EU ambassadors over 'blame Israel' policy
Israel’s foreign minister has summoned EU ambassadors over what he called their “one-sided stance” against the Jewish state, which he says undermines regional peace efforts. The move comes as Israeli envoys in the EU were called in over settlements.
Israeli FM Avigdor Lieberman called in the ambassadors of the UK,
France, Italy and Spain and “stress[ed] to them that their
perpetual one-sided stance against Israel and in favor of the
Palestinians is unacceptable and creates the impression they are
only seeking ways to blame Israel," AFP cites his spokesman
as saying in a statement.
"Beyond being biased, unbalanced and ignoring the reality on
the ground, the positions held by these states significantly harm
the possibility of reaching some sort of agreement between the
sides," Friday’s statement read.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accused
the EU of “hypocrisy” for condemning Israeli settlement
construction, but not Palestinian incitement to terrorism.
“I think it’s time to stop the hypocrisy and inject some fairness
in the discussion,” the Jerusalem Post reported Netanyahu as
telling an annual reception of foreign journalists in Jerusalem.
He also said that the EU bias did not foster peace, but in fact
undermined it because “it tells the Palestinians that they
can engage in incitement and terror and not be held
accountable.”
Netanyahu’s anger was spurred by a decision by several EU states
to summon Israeli ambassadors to register their protest at
Israel’s latest announcement of settlement expansion in the
occupied territories.
Last week, Israel issued tenders for 1,400 new homes in areas in
the West Bank and East Jerusalem claimed by Palestinians for the
creation of an independent state.
Most countries have viewed Israel’s settlement expansion as illegal, and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki has previously characterized settlement expansion in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as “killing the two-state solution.”
The Palestinians have also warned further Israeli settlement expansion could scuttle US-brokered peace talks that resumed in July after a three-year break.
Netanyahu described as “bogus” the claim that settlements are an obstacle to a peace agreement
“Adding a few houses will not change the map an iota,” Netanyahu said, adding that he wondered if the Palestinians were looking to create an “ethnically cleansed state.”
There are currently over 500,000 Jewish settlers living in territories occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.
