Germany’s top diplomatic official has urged cantankerous closemouthed Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to adopt a two-state plan as the basis for peace in the Middle East and the “sole path to peace and security,” a plan which the new Israeli government has rejected. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier set out Berlin’s “clear expectation” in a statement to the media just before he met Lieberman, who was touring European capitals.
The hard-line minister had refused to commit to a two-state approach, under which the Palestinian Territories would achieve statehood, when he met earlier with members of the German parliamentary foreign affairs committee. Lieberman talked about a “peace industry,” which to date had achieved little but waste money, according to parliamentarians at the meeting. He further described Iran as a major threat. “All this is far from encouraging,” said former German minister of state for foreign affairs, Werner Hoyer.

Later in the day, Lieberman paid his respects at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial, laying a wreath at the 19,000-square-metre monument in the centre of Berlin containing 2,711 individually shaped concrete blocks, known as “stelae.” Lieberman’s European visit - which had included meetings in Rome, Paris and European Union talks in Prague - was mostly conducted out of the media eye. In Berlin, no joint press conference or photo call was convened for his meeting with Steinmeier.
 This echoed Lieberman’s reception in France, where Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner chose not to hold a joint press conference as had been customary when Lieberman’s predecessor Tzipi Livni came to Paris, showing the coolness now between the EU and Israel. The Israeli foreign minister, who heads a nationalist party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, caused a stir on his first day in office, when he announced that Israel was no longer bound by the so-called Annapolis peace process, which formed the basis of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in 2008, derailing the efforts.

The EU has urged the new Israeli government , to adhere to the 2007 Annapolis peace process, which formed the basis of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in 2008. The meeting agreed that creating a Palestinian state should be part of the solution to the lengthy Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Upon assuming office, Lieberman said that the Annapolis talks had no validity for the new Israeli government. Instead, he said, Israel subscribes to a peace roadmap from 2003, which required Palestinians to tame militants before getting their own state.

EU officials have recently squabbled over whether to turn progress in the Israeli- Palestinian peace talks into a condition for an upgrade of its ties with Israel. The EU’s External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said that the boost in ties should be linked to the talks, while outgoing Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, who chaired the council of the EU leaders until last week, urged going ahead without the condition.

The EU members approved Israel’s request to boost trade and research ties in June 2008 but the initiative has not moved forward since Israel’s Gaza offensive at the turn of the year. The EU has also criticised Israel over demolishing Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

STOP JEWISH BUILDING

Kouchner told Lieberman that Israel must stop building settlements in Palestinian territory and demanded the complete halt of settlement building, including that linked to “natural growth,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the two men met in Paris. Kouchner also told Lieberman that there could be no military solution to the Gaza problem and that Gaza crossing points must be opened permanently to ameliorate the humanitarian situation there. Lieberman’s first stop was Rome, where he met Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. In Paris , Kouchner and Lieberman discussed the stalled Mideast peace process and the Iranian nuclear program.

Kouchner listened closely to Lieberman’s concerns regarding Tehran’s intentions, the statement said. He told the Israeli minister that Paris would use all means to persuade Iran to respect its international obligations and suspend its questionable nuclear activities. In Rome, Lieberman had told Berlusconi that Iran should be given three months to show it is willing to halt its nuclear programme. If not, the international community should take “practical steps” against Tehran.
Lieberman’s visit represented an embarrassing dilemma for French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Kouchner, and Sarkozy made sure he wasn’t in Paris, but in the southern city of Nimes, on a campaign stop for June’s European parliament elections, so he could avoid Lieberman, who was welcomed at the Elysee Palace by Claude Gueant, a close advisor to Sarkozy and the man behind the now-moribund Union for the Mediterranean. The reasons for discretion were seen as Lieberman’s declaration that the Annapolis peace process was, in effect, null and void and his apparent rejection of a Palestinian state, which run counter to France’s positions on the Middle East. The daily Le Figaro reported that Lieberman’s primary aim on his first European trip was to shift the emphasis of discussions from Palestine to Iran.

US CHIMES IN TOO

France has signed on to US President Barack Obama’s more open approach to Iran, and Sarkozy has repeatedly called for the immediate creation of a Palestinian state. US Vice President Joe Biden also called on Israel to back a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians and urged an end to settlement expansion. Biden also called on Israel to ease restrictions that limit Palestinian movement during a speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israeli lobbying group in Washington. “Israel has to work toward a two-state solution,” Biden said. “You’re not going to like my saying this, but (Israel should) not build more settlements, (but) dismantle existing outposts and allow the Palestinians freedom of movement.” Biden stressed that the US is committed to the security of Israel. “Israel’s security in nonnegotiable.

Period,” Biden said. He also called on the Palestinians to stop violence against Israel. “The Palestinian Authority must combat terror and incitement against Israel,” Biden said. Obama had set up a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, who addressed the organisation earlier. Netanyahu spoke to the group via satellite, saying the he was ready to enter immediate negotiations with the Palestinians without preconditions. “The political track means that we are prepared to resume peace negotiations without any delay and without any preconditions, the sooner the better,” he said.