12/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Council of the EU held a discussion over lunch on Monday on the Israeli policy on East Jerusalem, on the basis of a somewhat critical report, which the ministers decided to keep secret "so as not to interfere in the electoral process" in Israel, Jack Straw announced to the press. Extracts from a draft version of this report had been published a few weeks ago by the New York Times (see EUROPE 9077). The report criticised the policy of Israeli colonisation in East Jerusalem (as, incidentally, do the conclusions of the "General Affairs" Council and of the European Council on a regular basis), stating that this policy reduces the prospect of reaching an agreement on the final status of Jerusalem, and which is acceptable to the Palestinians. Initially, it had been planned to publish the report after discussions at the Council on 12 December. On Monday, the ministers decided otherwise. "The political landscape in Israel has changed (...), there are legislative elections planned for a few months' time. We decided, therefore, that it was appropriate not to enshrine or publish this document, but, instead, to continue to make our representations on our comments via the normal channels", said Mr Straw.