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Likud Vote “A Pity”, Palestinian State “Only Solution”, Says E.U. Presidency
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| Ariel Sharon
(L), Benjamin Netanyahu
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BRUSSELS,
May 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Spanish presidency of
the European Union criticized Monday, May 13, an overwhelming vote by
Israel's Likud Party to block the creation of a Palestinian state.
Speaking
to reporters in Brussels, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique said a
Palestinian state remained "the only solution" to the Middle
East conflict, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
2,600-member central committee of the right-wing Likud party, led by
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, voted overwhelmingly late Sunday, May 12,
against the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"It
is a pity," said Pique on his way into a meeting of E.U. foreign
ministers, "because all of us know that the only solution to this
conflict is to create a Palestinian state that is viable from the
economic and territorial point of view."
The
15 E.U. foreign ministers met Monday to consider the fate of 13
Palestinian resistance activists released Friday, May 10, from the
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem after a 39-day Israeli army siege
of Christianity’s holiest sites.
In
Tehran, meanwhile, Iran's state radio condemned Monday the
anti-Palestine Likud vote, saying it "unmasked the true
face" of Israel's leadership.
"This
decision has once again unmasked the truce face of the leaders of the
Zionist regime," Tehran Radio said.
"Ever
since it [Israel] was established, Israeli leaders were opposed to a
Palestinian state, as shown yet again by the latest decision," it
said in a commentary on Sunday night's vote.
"All
Israeli Prime Ministers have been against a Palestinian state,"
the radio said.
For
his part, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said Monday that the
Likud vote amounted to a "destruction" of the Oslo autonomy
accords.
"This
is a destruction of the Oslo agreements, and specially Wye River,
which was done by both [former Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and
Sharon," he told reporters on his departure from Ramallah to
visit Bethlehem.
The
Wye River land-for-security accord was signed in the United States in
October 1998 when Netanyahu was Premier and Sharon his Foreign
Minister.
The
right-wing Likud's 2,600-member central committee voted overwhelmingly
late Sunday against the establishment of a Palestinian state, backing
a proposal from Netanyahu in defiance of Sharon.
“It
does not serve the peace process,” said senior Arafat adviser Nabil
Abu Rudeina. “It does not even serve the effort that is being done
to resume the peace process and it endangers the stability in the
region. Such stability can only be served by establishing a
Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."
The
right-wing Party's central committee, by endorsing the vote, delivered
a stinging rebuke to Sharon, who himself has cautiously backed the
establishment of a limited Palestinian state.
Sharon
reportedly opposed the hard-line motion, saying it would damage ties
with Israel's top ally Washington, which favors an independent
Palestine.
In
a separately related development, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres said Monday his Labor party would stay in Sharon's coalition
despite the vote.
"As
long as the government respects its agenda and continues the political
process, we will stay," AFP quoted him as saying.
Peres
played down the significance of the overnight vote.
"This
drama, or melodrama, is not important; the main thing is that the
government continues to act on the basis of U.N. resolutions 242 and
338 which provide for a withdrawal from the [occupied] territories and
implicitly the creation of a Palestinian state," Peres said.
"The
Labor party will remain in government as long as there is a political
process which should translate into the holding of a regional
conference soon," he said.
"The
vote of the Likud central committee goes against the will of the
Israeli people who support the creation of a Palestinian state,"
he added.
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