Jerusalem, 30/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 29 October, Palestine's Minister of the Interior Said Abu Ali described the European position on the conditions for Israel's participation in the programmes co-financed by the EU as “appropriate” and “very significant”.
“The financial aid [Ed: to the Palestinian Authority] should be accompanied by political pressure [on Israel]. Otherwise, the situation will go on endlessly and will only serve the interests of the occupying power”, Abu Ali stated.
At the end of July, the European Union published guidelines establishing that, from January 2014 the EU will not financially support the economy located in the occupied territories of the West Bank, infringing the 1967 boundaries. Negotiations continue in order to clarify some arrangements of the guidelines by the end of December. A delegation led by Pierre Vimont, the secretary general of the European External Action Service, was in Jerusalem last Sunday. The delegation's visit brought “no great progress”, a diplomatic source said, in whose opinion the EU reaffirmed its commitment to respect the principles set out and have them implemented on the ground in due course.
The Israeli authorities responded strongly to these guidelines, refusing to have to recognise an official distinction between Israel and the settlements in the West Bank in order to be able to benefit from European subsidies under Community programmes such as Horizon 2020. “We have received poisonous telephone calls”, the source said. In retaliation, Israel then forbade Europeans access to Gaza - access which had been re-established for only three weeks.
Surprised that the Israelis discovered the existence of these guidelines so late, the EU underlines that the document only serves to confirm its widely recognised position. And, according to this source, the Israelis “have understood that we are holding our ground”. (MB/transl.fl)