'Onze' president Toplanek op bezoek bij Netanyahu

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Wisten jullie al dat onze president op bezoek is bij Netanyahu?

Groet / Cees

PS. En ze hebben het vandaag in Israel ook over de VVD ;)

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1081030.html
EU president: Europe blind to scale of Iran threat
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Czech Republic

The European Union "underestimates the Iranian threat," according to Czech
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the rotating
presidency of the Union.

At the conclusion of his visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority,
Topolanek was strongly critical of European officials who are calling for
a freeze on the upgrading of ties between the EU and Israel.

In an interview with Haaretz, the outgoing Czech prime minister said that
the "peace process should not be linked to the relations between the EU
and Israel." At the same time, Topolanek proposed that Israel should end
the razing of homes in East Jerusalem as a gesture of good will to the
Palestinians.

Toplanek is considered one of Israel's closest allies in Europe. He is
also is the first prime minister to have visited Israel during Benjamin
Netanyahu assume the post of premier last month.

In spite of his criticism of Israel on issues like settlements in the West
Bank, on most other issues Topolanek backs Israel's policies.

The question of Iran was a subject on which Topolanek and his Israeli
interlocutors, Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, found
they had a common language.

"The rhetoric of the Israeli officials is understandable" on the issue of
Iran, Topolanek said, making reference to the speeches of Prime Minister
Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres during Holocaust Memorial Day last
week.

"I believe that at this very moment, there is no imminent threat of a war
between Israel and Iran," the Czech continued. "But the fact that Iran is
a threat whose danger can be magnified if the country will have a nuclear
weapon - that is something the entire world knows about. The fact that the
EU is somewhat underestimating this threat is also true. Nevertheless all
of us are looking at this twin track approach toward Iran. I think that
there is still time for hard power against Iran, but only after all soft-
power means have been already used. At this moment I see an Israeli attack
against Iran as very improbable."

Topolanek said he is in agreement with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, who asserts that the international community's handling of Iran
depends on Israel's steps with the Palestinians.

"The Iranian issue is uniting the whole region, including the Arab
countries. For the first time Israel and the Arab countries feel that they
are facing the same threats. And under the pressure of this threat a
solution must be found," the Czech prime minister said.

The criticism of the Czech leader centers mostly on the issue of
settlements and the razing of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem.

"Although I understand the right of every country to defend its territory,
certainly against rocket attacks, and one might find justication for the
Gaza operation, it is more difficult for me to understand the further
settlements spreading and the cases of evictions [in East Jerusalem]."
Topolanek said. "I would like to respond that I would really like to wait
and assess the situation once the policy of the new Israeli government is
presented by Prime Minister Netanyahu. But it will be difficult, on the
one hand, to promote the idea of two states for two peoples and on the
other hand continue the settlements.

"It is evident that the Palestinians must see a light at the end of the
tunnel. They must show some kind of successes to rally people behind them.
Netanyahu created positive expectations. We have a very short period of
time, maybe three months, durign which something must happen. This is why
any restrictions on the side of the EU make no sense in my opinion.

"But I expect some sort of gestures from the Israeli side. If I am talking
about a symbolic gesture, Sheikh Jarrah could be an example. There is no
legal solution to this problem. There are nine buildings and ten legal
opinions. I think that first of all we need to remove the lawyers from the
table, and acknowledge that there is room for a gesture here."

One of the issues currently being discussed in Europe is the freezing of a
process of closer ties with Israel. "I don't think that EU-Israel
relations are in danger or that they are being jeopardized on the contrary
I think that the peace process can not and should not be linked to
relations between the EU and Israel. Although of course there are some
correlations, they should not be linked."

The Czech prime minister was strongly critical of Benita Ferrero-Waldner,
the EU commissioner for external affairs, who has threatened a freeze to
the upgrading of ties. Ferrerro-Waldner published an opinion piece on the
subject in Haaretz English Edition just over a week ago ("The offer on the
table, April 17).

Topolanek: "In this sense I consider the statement by Benita
Ferero-Waldner about it, to be really hasty and at this given moment I
would not really attribute to it more weight than just a statement by a
commissioner. The action plan continuation is a political decision that is
to be made by the European Council, and I am still the president of the
European Council and I should know something about it."

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