Post by calabi-yau on Oct 15, 2004 11:10:38 GMT -5
According to this article, does this mean the US would also be considered a pariah nation by proxy ?
Report: Israel set to collide with EU
Confidential Israeli report also warns of country becoming a 'pariah state' like apartheid-era South Africa.
by Tom Regan | csmonitor.com
Israel could one day become a "pariah state" like apartheid-era South Africa. It also looks set to collide with a European Union that is growing in power and influence.
These are some of the possible outcomes if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not resolved, reports a confidential, but leaked to the media, 25-page ten-year forecast written by the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Center for Public Research.
The report, which contains no recommendations and was written in August of 2004, says it's important to improve relations with Europe since a European Union growing in power and influence would mean that Israel's main political partner, the United States, would probably diminish in international stature.
'It is a prognosis of the general outline of the international environment in the future... it is us looking into the crystal ball,' the report's author said. 'Everyone is aware of the importance of the relations with Europe.'
Reuters reported Thursday that Israel's relationship with the EU has been strained for a long time over what Israel sees as EU favoritism toward the Palestinians, and anti-Semitism in Europe. That relationship has grown worse, the Associated Press reported Thursday, as the EU has strongly criticized Israeli military action against the Palestinians and the construction of what Israel calls a security barrier in the West Bank.
"Regarding the Middle East peace process and our relations with Israel and the Palestinians, there is no doubt that the role of the EU has increased," said Christina Gallach, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. The EU says Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005 must be followed by major troop withdrawals in the West Bank, and pave the way for Palestinian statehood. "None of this is exactly what the Israelis want to hear, but we have to say it," Ms. Gallach said.
In an interview with Radio Netherlands about the report, Zalman Shoval, a former Israeli ambassador to the US and a foreign policy advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said he is not sure if Mr. Sharon shares the Foreign Ministry's concerns about Israel's future, but that most Israelis are "concerned" about developments in Europe.
Some concerns which we have [are] that it is convenient – and the Jewish people know something about that from its history – to make us responsible for things which really have nothing to do with us at all. We will have to fight with that, but I must say quite frankly that we have good reason to rely much more on the leader of the free world, America, than on some of these political machinations in Europe.
Sharon threatened to freeze the EU out of the Middle East peacemaking process in July when the EU backed a UN General Assembly resolution demanding that Israel heed a World Court ruling calling on it to tear down its West Bank barrier.
Columnist Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post wonders if Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan, which lacks the support of many in his own party but does have the support of the broader Israeli public, is not an attempt to buy "an insurance policy" with the EU, a position Ms. Glick says was supported by an interview key Sharon's advisor, Dov Weinsglass, recently gave with the Israeli newspaper, Ha'aretz.
According to Weisglass, the downward trend in Europe's view of Israel will be halted by Sharon's withdrawal plan from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria. By Weisglass's telling, the need to mollify and moderate Europe's view of Israel is one of the main reasons that Sharon chose the radical approach of withdrawal without an agreement and in the midst of war. In his words, the purpose of the withdrawal plan is to enable the US 'to go to the seething and simmering international community and say to them, "What do you want [from Israel]?." '
Meanwhile, Sharon announced he was scaling back the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli Army warned that staying longer than it already has in "crowded Palestinian areas" was too risky. Al Jazeera reports Friday that the situation in the Gaza Strip has created a dilemma for Sharon: continued Palestinian rocket attacks from the area into Israel undermines his plan for a withdrawal from Gaza, but the heavy Palestinian civilian casualties incurred during the 17-day offensive have drawn widespread international condemnation.
The Israeli action comes as an 18-page United Nation report accuses Israel of severe human rights violations, including "massive and wanton destruction" of property in Gaza. The report, compiled by UN representative for human rights John Dugard, said that while some of Israel's actions could be explained by security concerns, most could not. The report will be presented to the UN General Assembly later this month, and was prepared before the latest Israeli actions in Gaza.
The Israeli government criticized the report saying it "has nothing to contribute to any serious discussion about finding the right balance between security and human rights."
Finally, Ha'aretz reports that Israel is the only country in a survey of ten nations that would like to see US President George Bush re-elected. It was also the only country in the survey where the favorable opinion of the US improved in recent months, rather than deteriorated, and the only country where the war in Iraq was not considered a mistake. The joint poll was taken by 10 newspapers worldwide; other countries surveyed included coalition allies Britain and Australia, as well as Canada, Mexico, Russia, Japan, Korea, Spain and France.
Report: Israel set to collide with EU
Confidential Israeli report also warns of country becoming a 'pariah state' like apartheid-era South Africa.
by Tom Regan | csmonitor.com
Israel could one day become a "pariah state" like apartheid-era South Africa. It also looks set to collide with a European Union that is growing in power and influence.
These are some of the possible outcomes if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not resolved, reports a confidential, but leaked to the media, 25-page ten-year forecast written by the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Center for Public Research.
The report, which contains no recommendations and was written in August of 2004, says it's important to improve relations with Europe since a European Union growing in power and influence would mean that Israel's main political partner, the United States, would probably diminish in international stature.
'It is a prognosis of the general outline of the international environment in the future... it is us looking into the crystal ball,' the report's author said. 'Everyone is aware of the importance of the relations with Europe.'
Reuters reported Thursday that Israel's relationship with the EU has been strained for a long time over what Israel sees as EU favoritism toward the Palestinians, and anti-Semitism in Europe. That relationship has grown worse, the Associated Press reported Thursday, as the EU has strongly criticized Israeli military action against the Palestinians and the construction of what Israel calls a security barrier in the West Bank.
"Regarding the Middle East peace process and our relations with Israel and the Palestinians, there is no doubt that the role of the EU has increased," said Christina Gallach, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. The EU says Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005 must be followed by major troop withdrawals in the West Bank, and pave the way for Palestinian statehood. "None of this is exactly what the Israelis want to hear, but we have to say it," Ms. Gallach said.
In an interview with Radio Netherlands about the report, Zalman Shoval, a former Israeli ambassador to the US and a foreign policy advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said he is not sure if Mr. Sharon shares the Foreign Ministry's concerns about Israel's future, but that most Israelis are "concerned" about developments in Europe.
Some concerns which we have [are] that it is convenient – and the Jewish people know something about that from its history – to make us responsible for things which really have nothing to do with us at all. We will have to fight with that, but I must say quite frankly that we have good reason to rely much more on the leader of the free world, America, than on some of these political machinations in Europe.
Sharon threatened to freeze the EU out of the Middle East peacemaking process in July when the EU backed a UN General Assembly resolution demanding that Israel heed a World Court ruling calling on it to tear down its West Bank barrier.
Columnist Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post wonders if Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan, which lacks the support of many in his own party but does have the support of the broader Israeli public, is not an attempt to buy "an insurance policy" with the EU, a position Ms. Glick says was supported by an interview key Sharon's advisor, Dov Weinsglass, recently gave with the Israeli newspaper, Ha'aretz.
According to Weisglass, the downward trend in Europe's view of Israel will be halted by Sharon's withdrawal plan from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria. By Weisglass's telling, the need to mollify and moderate Europe's view of Israel is one of the main reasons that Sharon chose the radical approach of withdrawal without an agreement and in the midst of war. In his words, the purpose of the withdrawal plan is to enable the US 'to go to the seething and simmering international community and say to them, "What do you want [from Israel]?." '
Meanwhile, Sharon announced he was scaling back the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli Army warned that staying longer than it already has in "crowded Palestinian areas" was too risky. Al Jazeera reports Friday that the situation in the Gaza Strip has created a dilemma for Sharon: continued Palestinian rocket attacks from the area into Israel undermines his plan for a withdrawal from Gaza, but the heavy Palestinian civilian casualties incurred during the 17-day offensive have drawn widespread international condemnation.
The Israeli action comes as an 18-page United Nation report accuses Israel of severe human rights violations, including "massive and wanton destruction" of property in Gaza. The report, compiled by UN representative for human rights John Dugard, said that while some of Israel's actions could be explained by security concerns, most could not. The report will be presented to the UN General Assembly later this month, and was prepared before the latest Israeli actions in Gaza.
The Israeli government criticized the report saying it "has nothing to contribute to any serious discussion about finding the right balance between security and human rights."
Finally, Ha'aretz reports that Israel is the only country in a survey of ten nations that would like to see US President George Bush re-elected. It was also the only country in the survey where the favorable opinion of the US improved in recent months, rather than deteriorated, and the only country where the war in Iraq was not considered a mistake. The joint poll was taken by 10 newspapers worldwide; other countries surveyed included coalition allies Britain and Australia, as well as Canada, Mexico, Russia, Japan, Korea, Spain and France.
