Israel, which has been hammered hard in the European court of public opinion and by EU lawmakers, should be admitted to the European Union, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said after a visit to the Mideast. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Berlin, said a more likely prospect was renewed peace talks. As usual, nothing deterred the always-flamboyant Berlusconi who said in a welcoming ceremony in Jerusalem that, “My greatest desire, as long as I am a protagonist in politics, is to bring Israel into membership of the European Union.”  He took seven of his ministers on a three-day trip to the battle-scarred region to meet with top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni, and President Shimon Peres, and to hold talks with Palestinian officials. Berlusconi was even given a rare forum, the first-ever joint Israeli-Italian cabinet session and an address a special session of the Knesset. Netanyahu said a series of agreements, including on energy, the environment and health, would be signed during the visit. “We will work to strengthen and deepen the relations between Israel and Italy,” he said at the welcoming ceremony, and called Berlusconi “one of the greatest friends of Israel.” He added, “I can think of very few nations who have made such a contribution to Western culture as our two nations. In Rome and Jerusalem, the foundations for Western culture were laid,” he added. In his address to Jewish lawmakers, Berlusconi said: “We are fighting and will continue to fight together with you against every instance of anti-Semitism in Europe and around the world. We will also stand with you in Israel’s struggle for peace and security, and work to establish democracy in nations throughout the world and defend freedom as inalienable requirements for every human being.” Netanyahu praised the Italian leader, calling him “brave,” and said “Under your leadership, Italy has become the spearhead of the struggle against anti-Semitism. You not only stand before our enemies and slanderers, you also work to bring Israel and Europe closer, promoting Israel’s inclusion in the Union. Under your leadership the friendship between our nations and states has developed and Italy has become one of Israel’s closest friends. For all these reasons, Israel knows it has a good friend in Europe in the figure of Berlusconi.”

What about settlements?
Before he headed to Israel, however, he told an Israeli newspaper that Israel’s policy of allowing settlers in the occupied West Bank on Palestinian lands was “a mistake” that could be an obstacle to any peace settlement. It will never be possible to convince the Palestinians of Israel’s good intentions while Israel continues to build in territories that are to be returned as part of a peace agreement,” he told the Ha’aretz newspaper. “I would like to say to the people and government of Israel, as a friend, with my hand on my heart, that persisting with this policy is a mistake,” he said. He noted, however, that the events which followed Israel’s 2005 withdrawal of soldiers and settlers from the Gaza Strip “should prompt some thought,” and added that, “It is not possible to evacuate communities to (then) face burned synagogues, acts of destruction, and inter-Palestinian violence and missiles being shot into Israeli territory.”  He also laid the groundwork for his call for Israel to be in the EU. “The Jewish people, with courage and persistence, created a paragon of democracy in the Middle East. Israel is part of Europe. It belongs to the West. It believes in the values of democracy in which we, too, believe,” he told the Israeli daily. He added that Italy was an “essential stop” in any tour that Middle East leaders make in Europe, saying that “We feel involved in efforts to find a lasting and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian question.”
Quoting former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to the effect that war in the Middle East was impossible without Egypt, and peace impossible without Syria, Berlusconi said it was time for Israel and Damascus “to act together for the sake of peace.” In this framework, he suggested, Israel would return to Syria the Golan Heights, captured in the 1967 Middle East War, and Damascus would cease its support for militant organizations which did not recognize Israel’s right to exist. “At the same time diplomatic and friendly relations will be established between the two countries,” he said, trying to act as a broker for peace in the region although the EU already has a Special Envoy in former British prime minister Tony Blair and a new Foreign Minister, Catherine Ashton, who hasn’t been to the Mideast yet.

Merkel’s move
While Berlusconi was in Israel, Merkel also met in Germany with Israeli President Shimon Peres, and said both the Israelis and the Palestinians recognized that it was in their interest to resume negotiations. “Now it is about finding acceptable conditions for such talks,” Merkel said, adding that so-called “proximity talks” could provide the groundwork to resume direct negotiations. These initial discussions, as proposed by US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, would take place indirectly, using the US as a mediator between the Israelis and the Palestinians.    ”I think Israel is positive about the prospect, and it would be good if the Palestinian side could also reach a positive assessment,” the chancellor said of Mitchell’s proposal.
 Abbas said the Palestinians would decide within the next week whether to accept Mitchell’s conditions to resume talks aimed at a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian Territories. “If Israel stops the settlements for a certain period of time and is prepared to return to the basic agreement, we are prepared to negotiate with them,” Abbas said, in reference to the 2003 peace agreement, or road map. “I will continue to prohibit military activity,” Abbas said, adding that he believed in a peaceful solution.The Palestinian president also said it was key to reconcile his Fatah movement with the militant Hamas group, upon whom he called to sign an agreement which would enable presidential and legislative elections.