EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton responded angrily to comparisons made by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman equating the EU’s policy on Israel to Europe’s treatment of its Jews during the Holocaust.
Speaking to Israeli daily Ha’aretz Thursday, Ashton’s spokeswoman on the Middle East Maja Kocijancic described Lieberman’s comments, which saw him respond to the EU foreign affairs Council’s harsh criticism of Israel’s settlement expansion policy Monday, by claiming European government would be prepared to abandon Israel "without batting an eyelash" as they gave up Czechoslovakia to the Nazis on the eve of WWII, as “inappropriate and offensive to Europeans”.
Describing Ashton as “dismayed” by the insinuation, she added "Europe's commitment to Israel's security cannot be questioned”.
"This was reiterated in the Council conclusions on Monday, as was our condemnation of inflammatory statements made by Hamas leaders that deny Israel's right to exist,” she insisted.
In an interview with Israeli radio Wednesday, Lieberman, who has previously butted heads with Ashton after the EU’s refusal to designate Lebanese Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation following his appeals at the EU-Israel Association Council meeting in Brussels in July, said: “Europe is keeping silent. The call ... what we saw, is not a condemnation of Hamas' statements but rather a call to Hamas' heads to refrain from incitement. We have already been through this with Europe at the end of the 1930s and in the 1940s."
"I am not satisfied with the position of Europe, which once again in history is ignoring calls to destroy the State of Israel,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, in a somewhat more guarded statement, the Israeli foreign ministry described Monday's Council’s conclusions as “mistaken”.
Disputing Europe’s continued focus on Israeli settlement policy a the obstacle to resuming direct peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, the official comment insisted “the root cause of the absence of a peace accord is the Palestinian refusal to engage in direct negotiations and their unwillingness to recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, as recently exemplified by Mahmoud Abbas' UN speech and Khaled Mashaal's Gaza speech."
“This one-sided position taken by the EU rewards rejectionism and does not contribute to promoting a permanent peace agreement,” the ministry said.
The comments echoed those made by Israeli Premier Benjamvin Netanayhu in an interview with German daily Die Welt last week during his official visit to Berlin, when he said: “I think the one-sided criticism of Israel just tells the Palestinians that they can get away with violating their solemn pledges for peace, and I don’t think it advances peace. Israel is prepared to have peace with a Palestinian state. The Palestinians want a Palestinian state without peace. Many of these European governments who voted for this thinking it may advance peace but in fact this pushes peace backwards because it tells the Palestinians you can get international recognition and international legitimacy without making the necessary compromises for peace.”