ISRAELI PRIME minister Binyamin Netanyahu has completed a diplomatic tour of European capitals aimed at stalling moves towards recognition of a Palestinian state, but clear divisions have emerged between France and Germany on the issue.
President Nicolas Sarkozy told Mr Netanyahu during talks in Paris that he would support a unilateral declaration of Palestinian independence if peace talks with Israel did not restart by September, dealing a setback to Israel’s campaign to isolate the incoming Palestinian unity government.
British prime minister David Cameron is understood to have delivered a similar message earlier this week, raising the possibility major European states could give their support to a Palestinian state before a peace deal is secured.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has been pushing to obtain United Nations backing this autumn for an independent state on all areas Israel occupied in the 1967 war. Israel is seeking to avoid that happening. In Paris, Mr Netanyahu said a serious move towards peace could only come from talks between Israel and the Palestinians, “not by way of a UN diktat”.
In an interview published on the eve of Mr Netanyahu’s arrival, Mr Sarkozy added to pressure on the Israelis by saying France “expects him [Netanyahu] to take the risk of peace” and indicated France was willing to recognise a Palestinian state in autumn.
Mr Netanyahu said he drew comfort from a separate commitment by Mr Sarkozy to support Israel’s claim to be formally recognised as “the state of the Jewish people”.
“What I heard from President Sarkozy is that it [the new Palestinian government] must recognise Israel as the state of the Jewish people,” he said outside the Élysée Palace after a meeting he described as “good, far-ranging and friendly”.
With diplomatic activity intensifying in advance of a visit to Washington by Mr Netanyahu on May 20th – seen as crucial to relaunching the peace process – Mr Abbas held talks in Berlin with chancellor Angela Merkel, who has adopted a different stance to Mr Sarkozy.
After her meeting with Mr Abbas, Dr Merkel played down differences between Paris and Berlin, saying both wanted to see negotiations resume, but she reiterated Germany’s belief that it would “not be constructive” to recognise a new state in September.
“We do not believe unilateral steps are helpful,” Dr Merkel said, “but Germany and France both want to see quick progress. I think that’s what we should focus on.”
Mr Abbas’s Fatah struck an accord with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal last week, ending a four-year feud and laying the foundations for a unified Palestinian government. Mr Netanyahu used his European tour to stress Israel’s concern that the new Palestinian Authority includes militants it considers terrorists and represents a reversal for the peace process.
Western capitals have reacted cautiously to the Fatah-Hamas deal. The French foreign ministry said Hamas must “recognise the existence of Israel and its [territorial]. integrity” and abandon violence, echoing the longstanding position of the “Quartet” of Middle East mediators – the US, EU, UN and Russia.
In Rome last week, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said Washington was “carefully assessing” the meaning of the Fatah-Hamas deal. “We have made it very clear that we cannot support any government that consists of Hamas, unless and until Hamas adopts the Quartet principles and the Quartet principles have been well known to everyone for a couple of years.”
Mr Abbas stressed the accord with Hamas, signed in Cairo last week, would not change the objective for a two-state solution. Israel however hopes the western opposition to dealing with Hamas unless it abandons violence – reiterated by Mr Sarkozy and Mr Cameron last week – will weaken Palestinian calls for UN recognition in September.
“If [Palestinian] national unity is unity for peace, then we would be the first to support it,” Mr Netanyahu said, “but if it’s unity to move away from peace, pursue the battle for Israel’s eradication, then obviously we oppose it and so should everyone else.”