Former leaders call for change in EU policy on Israel

A group of prominent former European political leaders and diplomats has called for an urgent reevaluation of the European Union policy towards Israeli occupation and the issue of a Palestinian state.

The group, known as the European Eminent Persons Group, wrote a letter to the European Union on Monday, maintaining that “the current financial and political assistance given by Europe and America to the Palestinian Authority achieves little more than the preservation of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and imprisonment of Gaza.”

“Standards of living and human rights in both territories have sunk shockingly low. It is no longer possible for the EU to allow these conditions to continue without grave risk to its international reputation and to its long-term interest in the stability of its neighborhood. Hiding behind American leadership on the politics of the dispute is unedifying and unproductive,” the letter further reads.

The hard-hitting letter, published on Wednesday by the Guardian, has been signed by high-profile figures such as Hubert Védrine and Roland Dumas, the former foreign ministers of France, Andreas van Agt, a former prime minister of the Netherlands, Mary Robinson, a former president of Ireland, John Bruton, a former prime minister of Ireland, Michel Rocard, a former prime minister of France, Javier Solana, the former NATO secretary general, and Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the former UK ambassador to the UN.

The letter, addressed to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, also urges EU to recognize a Palestinian government for a future state within the pre-1967 borders (before the 'Six Day War').

The former leaders have also described the condition of the occupied territories as “desperate”.

Earlier in the day, the Vatican officially recognized Palestine as an independent state in a new treaty.

In early December last year, French lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of a motion to recognize the Palestinian state. The motion, urging the government to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state, was backed by a majority of 339 lawmakers while 151 members voted against.

Spanish lawmakers also approved a non-binding resolution on recognizing a Palestinian state on November 18, 2014. Britain and Ireland also passed similar non-binding motions.

Sweden went a step further on October 30, 2014, and officially recognized the state of Palestine, drawing stringent criticism from Israel and the United States.

Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East al-Quds (Jerusalem), and the Gaza Strip, and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories. The Israeli regime, however, has refused to return to the 1967 borders and is unwilling to discuss the issue of al-Quds.

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