The ‘ambassador’ of the settlers movement in Judea Samaria, told European Union officials in Brussels that the EU policy towards the Israel-Palestinian conflict ‘’is mistaken’’ and that ‘’ it is more and more evident’’ that the pursuit of the two-state solution ‘’leads nowhere.’’
‘’We need to improve the quality of life of the Palestinians, their dignity instead of a political process that is totally useless,’’ said Dani Dayan, who is the Chief Foreign Envoy of the Yesha Council, the leadership of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
He was this week in Brussels where he met several Members of the European Parliament and was received at the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s foreign ministry, which is headed by Catherine Ashton.
‘’ I think that it was the first time that a so-called ‘settler’ ore representative of the settlers entered the EU foreign ministry where I had meetings with high level officials, including a member of Catherine Ashton’s cabinet,’’ Dayan, a resident of the Maale Shomron, in Samaria (northern part of the West Bank), said in an interview with the European Jewish Press (EJP).
‘’My main message to these officials was that the EU policy towards the Israel-Palestinian conflict is mistaken. It is more and more evident that the pursuit of the two-state solution that has been the only game in town for the last 20 years leads nowhere. The peace process has become like a highway in which the cars drive and drive and will never get to the final destination because it is impossible,’’ he said.
‘’The attempt by Europe to blame one party, Israel, is a non-sense. There are also objective reasons that Israelis and Palestinians cannot reach an agreement because their narrative, their aspirations are completely miles apart….’’.
He added : ‘’Any agreement on a political solution of the conflict is impossible.’’ He gve as example: ‘’Three weeks ago the Palestinan Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, met a large group of Israeli students in Ramallah. He really tried to be nice and moderate…In an attempt to be nice and moderate he told the students : you have nothing to worry about, we will give you prayer rights in the Kotel (the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem). For an Israeli, even the most moderate, it is total unconceivable that the Kotel will be under Palestinian sovereignty and that they will give us praying rights.’’
‘’As you are focusing on trying to reach a two-state solution that is impossible, you don’t take care of other issues in which you can really make progress and get benefits,’’ he said.
He suggested his European interlocutors that instead of the useless political process Israel, the Arab States, Europe and the US concentrate their efforts on the hundred thousands of Palestinians living in refugee camps in Judea and Samaria.
''Take them out of the refugee camps, give them dignity and you will make an incredible contribution to the atmosphere and life of people.’’
He continued : ‘’Another thing that I suggested is to help us create the conditions that will enable Israel to dismantle the security fence. The Europeans speak so much about the Palestinian population, the limitations they encounter. Let’s deal with that, it’s possible to change that. Today security prevails. Instead of doing things that catch the lifes of real people we are engaged in a political process that catches the lifes of three people : John Kerry, Tzipi Livni and Saeb Erakat who spent the nights in 5-star hotels around the world.’’
Asked how the European officials reacted, he deplored that the two-sate solution and the issue of settlemets have become the EU’s ‘’religious dogma’’.
‘He said that what the EU can offer as incentive if an agreement is reached betwen Israel and the Palestinians is ‘’a secondary question.’’
‘’The problem is whether an agreement can be reached. The reunification of Europe is a remarkable achievement but Europeans think that national sentiment is something of the past. They are so wrong, even in Europe, look with Scotland, Catalonia, Belgium…. And in the Middle East national sentiment is still the prevailing force. We have our national sentiment, the Palestinians have theirs. So the EU attempt to tempt the parties by offering incentives is a misunderstanding of the reality on the ground. Europe doesn’t look at the realities and that’s the reason of the failure of its policy. You cannot make correct conclusions if you don’t analyse the reality as it is. Europe looks at the reality with a tremendous amount of wishful thinking and Europeanism. And Europeanism not always apply and almost never to the Middle East…’’.