Israel wants EU to secure Gaza border
MARK BEUNDERMAN
02.11.2005 @ 08:59 CET
The EU has been set a major foreign policy challenge following a request by the Israeli government to monitor the Egyptian-Gaza border, with EU officials to have real enforcement capacities.
The Israeli inner cabinet, a circle of the most senior ministers, on Tuesday (1 November) voted to call upon EU inspectors to be engaged in monitoring the Rafah crossing between the Gaza strip and Egypt.
Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom said, according to Israeli daily Haaretz, "Our objective is for the Europeans to have enforcement capabilities in the field, and not just a symbolic presence".
Since Israel ended its occupation of the Gaza strip, it says the crossing is characterised by weapons smuggling and uncontrolled passage of terrorists, with Egyptian authorities unable to safeguard border security.
The Israelis, which have traditionally been wary of EU involvement in its relations with the Palestinians, have now for the first time turned their eyes to Brussels to play a concrete role in the Middle East peace process.
The Palestinian Authority supports the idea of the EU sending border observers, but it disagrees with Israel on the European mandate.
Ghassan Hatib, who leads the Palestinian team negotiating on the Rafah issue, said according to UK paper the Independent "The EU will be monitors. If they notice something is happening in violation of the agreements and the standards, then they will ask the Palestinians to correct things".
He added that the European role should be "confidence-building, not enforcing".
On top of this, the EU itself appears to be wary of engaging in a long-lasting presence of EU officials exposed to security threats.
According to Haaretz, EU diplomats said the EU is demanding a time limit to be placed on the mission, while seeking clear-cut reassurances from the Palestinian side that the team will not be attacked.
But Italian foreign minister Gianfranco Fini said that if the EU does not accept the mission, it would damage the bloc’s foreign policy goals, the Israeli paper reports.
Possible EU involvement in Gaza has been under discussion since Israel’s Sharon government in 2003 indicated it had serious plans for a pull-out from the tiny Palestinian territory.
European politicians have frequently said the EU should be prepared to take greater responsibility in facilitating the Middle East peace process.