AMMAN — Israel has signaled to the EU’s foreign policy chief,
Josep Borrell,
that he is not welcome to visit following critical comments he made about
Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank, Israeli officials said Wednesday,
according to the Associated Press.
اضافة اعلان
The incident marked the latest sign
of deteriorating relations between
Israel’s new far-right government and some
of its closest allies.
Borrell upset
Israel with an article published last week that Israeli officials said equated the Israeli victims of
Palestinian attacks with militants killed in Israeli army operations.
No ‘effective
accountability’ towards Israel“Being honest means acknowledging
that extremism is rising on both sides. Indiscriminate attacks and violence are
taking many lives,” Borrell wrote in “Project Syndicate”.
“Violence on the part of Israeli
settlers in the West Bank is increasingly threatening Palestinian lives and
livelihoods — almost always with impunity. Moreover, Israeli military
operations frequently cause
civilian Palestinian deaths, often without
effective accountability,” he added.
An Israeli official said Wednesday
that while there were no official plans or requests for Borrell to visit, the
Israeli government had made it clear to him that he is not welcome at the current
time.
‘Not banned’“He’s not banned,” the official
said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to
discuss the matter on the record. “We don’t think it’s a good time to come.”
In Brussels,
European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano said Borrell had not been prevented from entering
Israel because he has not been trying to visit.
“We are not aware about any ban or
about any decision by the official Israeli authorities not allowing” Borrell to
visit.
“Violence on the part of Israeli settlers in the West Bank is increasingly threatening Palestinian lives and livelihoods — almost always with impunity. Moreover, Israeli military operations frequently cause civilian Palestinian deaths, often without effective accountability.”
He added that Borrell’s comments
reflected the official positions of the 27-nation EU.
Israel has close political and
economic relations with many European states.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to travel to Germany on Wednesday, a week after an official visit to
Italy.
But Israel and the EU have
repeatedly differed over the years over Israel’s treatment of Palestinians,
Israeli settlement construction and the lack of progress in peace talks.
Borrell’s article lamented that
“neither the Israeli side nor the Palestinian side is ready for peace”.
He called on Palestinian factions
“to renounce terrorism and overcome their political divisions,” while he urged Israel
to stop building settlements on occupied land claimed by the Palestinians, to
halt settler violence and to offer to negotiate an independent Palestinian
state.
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