Brussels, 22/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - The EU Declaration of 20 November on the Middle East, "the need for even handedness notwithstanding, "is ill-timed, insensitive to Israeli concerns, and completely ignores the heavy responsibility of the Palestinian leadership for the current dismal security situation in the Middle East", says Harry Kney-Tal, Israel's Ambassador to the EU, commenting of the declaration adopted by the General Affairs Council on Monday (see yesterday's EUROPE, page 6). According to him, "careful reading of the adopted text may be construed as indirect justification for the Palestinian violence", the "Palestinian frustration due to the lack of progress in the peace process and the continuing existence of the settlement problem" being "portrayed as the root cause of the unfortunate situation prevailing" in the Middle East. "The prescriptive language of the declaration strikingly resembles the public stance of the Palestinian Authority", says Mr. Kney-Tal, also noting that, sadly, the EU declaration "forgot to mention the intentional criminal attack on the Israeli school bus in the Gaza strip". Israel remains "committed to resuming the talks. There is no other alternative. The Palestinian Leadership must halt violence to enable the peaceful resolution to the conflict", he concludes.