Israel’s settlement policies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are souring its relations not only in Whitehall and Washington but with its biggest trading partner, the European Community.
That is not likely to change when Britain takes over the rotating chairmanship of the E.C. on July 1. Hopes for closer ties will depend on progress in the peace process, Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd told the Jewish Chronicle in an interview.
In fact, it is “difficult to imagine dramatic progress’ on E.C.-Israeli ties without a peace settlement, he said.
Israeli officials have expressed disappointment over E.C. efforts to link trade and diplomatic relations to Israel’s policies in the territories.
“I would like to see Israel as part of the arrangements in the eastern Mediterranean that would bring all states in the area into closer relations with the E.C.,” Hurd said.
But he added: “I think there is a limit to E.C.-Israel ties without progress in the peace process.”
He described the building of Jewish settlements in the territories as the “biggest cause of frustration.”
Hurd was interviewed just before Prime Minister John Major announced general elections in Britain for May 9. Should the Conservatives lose the elections to the Labor Party, its foreign minister would take over the six-month stint as chairman of the E.C. Council of Ministers.
But there are no major differences on Middle East policy between the Conservatives and the Labor Party, Hurd admitted.
Hurd said there has been a “considerable improvement” in the atmosphere between London and Jerusalem over the last few years.
He said he has a good personal relationship with Foreign Minister David Levy. “We phone each other from time to time” and although “my views are not always popular in Israel,” the relationship is friendly, he said.
Hurd said Britain and its E.C. partners are fully supportive of the current peace process between Israel and the Arab states.
Just having negotiations is “real progress,” he said, adding that “two years ago, I wouldn’t have thought that with a Likud government, would sit down and talk with Palestinians.”
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