By KUNA,
Gaza : The European Union’s Middle East peace document that outlines the union’s strategy to diffuse the Israeli-Palestinian standoff has raised concerns amidst Israeli officials, said the Haaretz on Monday.
“Israeli officials are deeply concerned over an internal European Union document outlining the EU’s plans for advancing an Israeli-Palestinian deal in 2009,” daily reported on its website.
The European document is calling for mounting pressure on Israeli in a bid to reopen Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, including Orient House, the daily added.
Haaretz said that they possessed a copy from the EU’s document that was basically set by the French Foreign Ministry, as France currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency.
The EU’s practical strategy for peace in the Middle East comprises different proposals that force EU members to work by in 2009 on both Palestinian and Syrian tracks.
The daily further noted that such proposals might lead to confrontation with the Israelis, regardless of whether the new cabinet was headed by Tzipi Livni or Benjamin Netanyahu.
Cooperation with the new US Administration is also included in the EU peace plan as they invited the international community to supervise and monitor the implementation of the first phase of the “Road Map” as stipulated by the international peace Quartet.
The Road Map stipulates that Israel freezes settlements expansion operations in the West Bank and uproot deployed checkpoints, the daily reported.
The document called for shedding light on core issues of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, namely borders, security, Jerusalem and refugees, the daily said.
EU members are of the view that Jerusalem should be a shared capital for both the Palestinian and Israelis, and will work actively towards the re-opening of Palestinian institutions, including the Orient House, it added.
On the security dossier, the EU members expressed through their plan their readiness to carry out security agreements executions, namely sending a mission to train the Palestinian security forces and monitor the implementation of final agreements reached by both sides.
The daily quoted the EU plan as saying that a “just, fair and realistic” solution to the refugee issue must be found, adding that the EU would be willing to help establish and operate an international mechanism to rehabilitate Palestinian refugees.
The EU expects a complete freeze of all settlement activities including natural growth, including in East Jerusalem, and the EU will continue to send clear messages to Israel and examine practical ways to exert more influence on these issues, including on goods from settlements established in the West Bank, the daily also reported.