Israel urges no EU compromise on Palestinian aid
Source: Reuters
BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - Israel urged the European Union on Monday not to compromise on demands for a new Palestinian government to recognise Israel, accept past peace accords and renounce violence before resuming direct aid. "Hamas can change only if they understand that the policy of the international community is to embrace the moderates.. compromise is something that will not help," Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said. "It's against the interests of the moderates, including moderates among the Palestinians," Livni said after bilateral talks with the European Union following an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels. "The right thing to do...is to stick to the agreements the EU made to demand any Palestinian government to meet these requirements fully and completely," she said. The European Union suspended direct aid to the Palestinian government last year after the Islamist militant group Hamas came to power and refused to recognise Israel, accept past peace accords and renounce violence. EU External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told a news briefing a Feb. 8 agreement in Mecca by Hamas and its rival Fatah faction to form a unity government was a good one. But the EU would have to see its makeup, programme and actions before making a decision direct aid, she said. France though has already said it would be "disposed to cooperate" with the government and a senior EU official said Britain was another EU state that was softening its stance on the issue. The official said the Netherlands was taking the toughest line in sticking strictly to conditions for resumption of aid. French European Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna called the Mecca agreement "a first step in the right direction which should be encouraged" and said formation of a new government should be an element that should be taken into account. "We think it should prepare to take account of these elements in its future contacts with the Palestinian Authority and for European aid," she told a news briefing. However, she said the EU ministers had agreed they should proceed based on facts "not just of statements, but of actions". German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that if a future government made a clear commitment to meeting the international demands there would be no obstacle to cooperation. Livni said Israel would recognise the government if it fully met the demands. "It is basic for us to ask them to say publicly that Israel has a right to exist," she said. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said on Monday the makeup of the government would not be agreed before the end of next week. It had been expected to be unveiled at the end of last week but officials have said the two sides have yet to agree on who will take the helm of the interior ministry.
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
