The World Jewish Congress expressed disappointment about comments made this week by British Foreign Minister William Hague on the Middle East and Israel, calling them "one-sided.".
In an interview with The Times in London, Hague said Israel should tone down what he tered its "belligerent" language amid the revolutionary tide sweeping the Arab world, when he was asked to comment recent statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the situation in Egypt.
In a meeting earlier this week with a visting delegation of European parliamentarians, Netanyahu spoke of the possibility that the Islamists in Egypt would exploit the situation in order to gain governance over the country and lead it backwards, in fact warning that Egypt could become a new Iran. He said Israel had to be prepared for "any outcome" in Egypt and "to reinforce its might".
William Hague was quoted by the British newspaper as saying that "this should not be a time for belligerent language".
"It's a time to inject greater urgency into the Middle East peace process," he added.
He also demanded that the Obama administration give a timetable for bringing "greater urgency into the peace process" and for a peace settlement to be based on the borders prior to 1967.
On Wednesday World Jewish Congress President William Lauder issued a strong statement on Hague’s comments.
"Putting undue political pressure on Israel alone, completely neglecting its vital security interests, is counterproductive and unhelpful,” he said, criticizing Europe's political leaders "who on an almost daily basis go around the Middle East lecturing the Israelis about what they should do, and that they should do it now."
"What these leaders forget is that Israel cannot make
concessions on its vital security needs, because this would mean suicide in the current climate, certainly as long as the Palestinians cannot guarantee Israel's vital security interests and are pursuing a unilateral strategy which is in clear breach of all major agreements between parties since the Oslo Accords," Lauder added.
"The British and other European governments would be well-advised to put more real effort into improving the situation on the ground instead of just taking the backseat and leaving Israel, the only democracy in the region, alone. Talk is cheap, but action is what we need," the WJC president, who is a
former US ambassador to Austria, said.
He reiterated his call for Israel to become a member of NATO. “This would send a strong signal to other countries not to take on Israel. Lofty declarations regarding Israel's right tlive in peace and security are not enough."
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, Yigal Palmor, also addressed Hague’s comments: "We are witnessing a situation in which when a regime faces a serious challenge, voices are heard calling for a freeze or cancellation of a 30-year old peace agreement. This talk is obviously a cause for concern and the lesson we draw is that in any peace treaty, security aspects must be strengthened."