BICOM

Haaretz reports this morning that the European Union (EU) wants to open discussions with Israel over a series of “red lines” it has constructed which it believes will help retain the prospects of establishing a Palestinian state.

Haaretz says that it has obtained a copy of an internal EU document, which was agreed by ambassadors of all 28 member states in the wake of Israel’s recent appropriation of land in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank and construction plans in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Givat Hamatos. Both areas are likely to remain under Israeli sovereignty under any future peace agreement. However, the EU has long opposed Israeli building which it believes diminishes the integrity of a future Palestinian state.

Apparently, EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen, is set to meet with senior officials from Israel’s Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister’s Office to present the document and to discuss Israeli moves which pose an “increasing threat to the possibility of the two-state solution.”

The two-page document itself apparently sets out five “red lines” regarding Israeli activities in the West Bank. They include opposition to construction in Givat Hamatos, which it says would “crucially prejudge the outcome of peace negotiations,” and in the E1 region near Ma’ale Adumim, which it is argued would damage the contiguity of a potential Palestinian state. The document also opposes construction in the Har Homa neighbourhood of Jerusalem and any alteration to the status quo on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews. The document also calls on Israel to put plans on hold for relocating 12,000 West Bank Bedouins to a new West Bank town.

The EU Ambassador has reportedly been instructed to hold a “constructive dialogue” on the measures. However, Haaretz says there is Israeli concern that such discussion is merely a prelude to the imposition of EU sanctions, with European diplomats expecting that Israel will not comply with the proposed guidelines.