DUBLIN, May 6: Israel told the European Union on Thursday it would lose its role as a mediator if it "takes the side of the Palestinians" in Middle East peace talks, officials and diplomats said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom is in Dublin for talks with the EU and a number of Arab foreign ministers, including the Palestinian Authority's Nabil Shaath, in a rare forum bringing Israel into direct contact with the Palestinians.
But Shalom and Shaath failed to hold face-to-face talks, and a brief meeting between Shalom and the EU foreign policy 'troika' of Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen, EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana appeared to get off to a tense start.
"The presidency (of the EU) started with some principles," an EU official said, referring to the US-backed roadmap for peace. "That provoked an extravagant response from Shalom: "If you take the side of the Palestinians, fine with us but then you can no longer mediate."
An Israeli official said Shalom had not accused the bloc of backing the Palestinians. "The message was: 'If you take a one-sided approach you'll lose your role as mediator'," the Israeli official said.
The EU has frequently condemned what it calls the extra-judicial killing by Israel of Palestinian leaders in attacks, often by helicopter. It also criticizes construction of a security barrier which Palestinians see as a bid to establish long-term control over territory they say they need for a state.
AGGRESSIVE DINNER: Thursday's highly charged meeting followed a dinner on Wednesday attended by Shalom, Shaath, several other Arab ministers and the EU troika, which quickly developed into a hostile exchange of views, officials said.
"Dinner last night was not an easy one," the Israeli official said. "Some of the Arab ministers were quite aggressive." The EU is a member of the 'Quartet' promoting peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, alongside the United States, Russia and the United Nations.
The Quartet met in New York on Tuesday and expressed support for a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw unilaterally from the occupied Gaza Strip. But this appeared to be dashed at the weekend when Sharon's right-wing Likud party rejected it in a referendum.
Cowen, denying a rift between Israel and the EU, said the bloc's position was entirely consistent with that of the Quartet, which is trying to take the peace process forward through a 'roadmap' towards a settlement.
The ministers were meeting in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, uniting the EU with Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.
It was designed to boost ties between the North and South of the Mediterranean and promote good governance and rights through trade, aid, political and cultural cooperation. -Reuters
