Czech EU presidency splits with commission over Israel

Caretaker Czech prime minister and European Union president-in-office, Mirek Topolanek, has sharply criticised the European Commission for insisting Israel advance peace negotiations before upgrading EU-Israel relations.

Mr Topolanek made the comments in an interview with Israeli centre-left daily Ha'aretz, published on Sunday (26 April), at the end of his visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

The EU suspended technical talks on the upgrade, which is to include regular bilateral summits and trade perks for Israel, amid Israel's attack on the Gaza strip late last year. Tel Aviv's assault on clearly marked UN compounds in particular shook Brussels.

Last Thursday (23 April), foreign relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said progress on the upgrade will remain frozen until Israel takes steps to repair the peace process with Palestinians.

"We do not believe the time is right to go beyond the current level of relations," she said. "The ball is now in the court of Israel."

Mr Topolanek, a strong supporter of Israel and the first foreign prime minister to visit the new right-wing government in the country, disagreed with Ms Ferrero-Waldner however, saying: "the peace process should not be linked to the relations between the EU and Israel."

"I consider the statement by Benita Ferero-Waldner ...to be really hasty and at this given moment I would not really attribute to it more weight than just a statement by a commissioner. The action plan continuation is a political decision that is to be made by the European Council, and I am still the president of the European Council and I should know something about it."

The acting Czech leader also gave the strongest backing yet of any European leader to Israel's bombardment of Gaza, while criticising Israel's expansion settlement in the West Bank.

"Although I understand the right of every country to defend its territory, certainly against rocket attacks, and one might find justication for the Gaza operation, it is more difficult for me to understand the further settlements spreading and the cases of evictions [in East Jerusalem]." he said.

"It will be difficult, on the one hand, to promote the idea of two states for two peoples and on the other hand continue the settlements."

Mr Topolanek went on to say that while "there is no imminent threat of a war between Israel and Iran," over Iran's alleged race to acquire nuclear weapons, he would not rule out a "hard power" option if diplomacy fails.

"The fact that the EU is somewhat underestimating this threat is also true," he said.

The new Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, in separate public remarks on Friday also criticised the commission's stance on the relations upgrade.

"Don't set conditions for us," he told Prime Minister Topolanek.

"Peace is in Israel's interest no less than it is in Europe's interest, and there's no need to make the upgrade in relations with Israel conditional on progress on the peace process."