Strasbourg, 08/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - By 430 to 15 with 22 abstentions, the EP on Thursday endorsed at the end of a debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (see EUROPE of 6 February, p.5) a resolution by the EPP-ED, Socialist, Liberal, Greens and United Left groups in which it says it is firmly convinced that Israel needs the Palestinian Authority and its elected Chairman, Yasser Arafat, as a partner in negotiations to both eradicate terrorism and move towards peace. The MEPs deeply regretted the Israeli government's attempt to isolate Chairman Arafat and called on President Cox to invite the Nobel Peace Prize winners Peres and Arafat to the European Parliament. The resolution mentioned the decision to send a "very high level" EP delegation to the Middle East and stressed that the EP supported the General Affairs Council declaration which reserved the right to demand from the Israeli government financial compensation for the damage to Palestinian infrastructure funded by the EU and its Member States, and reaffirmed that the setting up of a Palestinian State would be the best way to guarantee Israel's security but again committing all sides to put an end to all forms of violence. The EP called on the EU to step up its diplomatic contact with the United States, Russia and relevant Arab states.