Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told the Knesset Wednesday that Israel will honor its trade agreements with the 12 member-states of the European Community, despite the Parliament of Europe’s refusal to ratify them.
Peres spoke in response to seven agenda motions denouncing resolutions adopted March 10 by the Strasbourg-based parliament, which serves as the E.C.’s legislative body.
The motions condemned Israel for inhumane treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, citing “torture, arbitrary arrests, reprisals and other acts of violence.”
Knesset Speaker Shlomo Hillel has in fact cabled the parliament’s president, Lord Plum of Britain, charging that “outside political considerations” intervened in Israel’s relations with the E.C.
He protested the “encouragement” the parliament has given the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Peres called the resolutions “a blow to the peace process,” but insisted Israel would keep its side of the economic bargain with the E.C. He noted that Israel purchased European goods valued at $6 billion a year and had a $2.5 million trade deficit with the Europeans.
He suggested that the E.C.’s lawyers examine the agreements with Israel under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) protocols to explain the gap between the E.C.’s principles and its actions last week.
Although the agreements were signed with all 12 E.C. members last year, after two years of negotiations, the European Parliament on March 9 voted overwhelmingly against ratifying them.
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