Kadima victory brings Israel back on track

By Andrew Beatty

Date: 30/03/06

The EU is expected to focus on getting Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table in the wake of the Israeli elections.

With the centrist Kadima party certain to head the new Israeli government, the EU is likely to be concentrating on ensuring that the promised Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank is negotiated.

EU diplomats said that the poor showing by the hard-right Likud party of Benjamin Netanyahu, which fell from first place in the last elections to fifth, made progress towards peace more likely, but cautioned that it was now necessary to see the outcome of negotiations on forming a coalition government and the demands that small parties would make.

During his victory speech, Ehud Olmert, whose election campaign was dominated by a promise to define Israel's borders by 2010, said that while he hoped negotiations were possible, the West Bank withdrawal would be taken unilaterally if necessary.

Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, encouraged Olmert "to pursue all efforts to move towards a peaceful, negotiated resolution of the Middle East conflict".

But Olmert looked to shift the focus onto the Hamas-dominated Palestinian government, making talks contingent on international demands to recognise Israel, respect previous peace agreements and hold a permanent ceasefire.

Article discusses prospects for EU-Israel relations after the victory of centrist party Kadima in the country's 2006 Parliamentary elections.

EEAS: Countries: Israel http://www.eeas.europa.eu/israel/index_en.htm

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