Two questions for the UK foreign secretary to ask Israel’s prime minister Sir, David Gardner is right (“Netanyahu nudges European goodwill to brink of rupture”, Global Insight, November 11), but the change is stronger than he realises. Benjamin Netanyahu has now alienated most, not some, of the EU’s political class. The first proof was in the General Assembly’s overwhelming vote two years ago to upgrade Palestine’s status in the UN to “Observer State”, based on the 1967 borders. Not only did 14 EU member states vote in favour, but all of Israel’s formerly reliable supporters abstained except for the Czech Republic, which cast the only EU vote against. The change has continued into the moves in several EU member states for bilateral recognition of the new Palestinian state, and recently went significantly further in the UK. In parliament on October 28, Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary said: “The settlements are illegal and building them is intended to undermine the prospects of the peace process . . .”. This has been well understood by our Foreign Office, as by most others, for many years, but this was the first time a British foreign secretary said it out loud. With other EU foreign secretaries and the EU’s new High Representative, he should now go further and publicly ask Prime Minister Netanyahu two simple questions. First: “Why do you think 78 per cent of Mandate Palestine isn’t enough for Israel?” Second: “Conversely, why do you think 22 per cent is too much for the Palestinians?” There are of course no answers that would accord with international law or common decency. When the Israeli public is forced to confront this fact, perhaps it will turn against Likud and the other parties of the right that are leading Israel into international opprobrium. Arthur Goodman Diplomatic and Parliamentary Officer, Jews for Justice for Palestinians
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 06:20:21 +0000
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