But Israeli officials attending the talks said the EU, which wants to play a bigger diplomatic role in the region, should show a more balanced approach. They also rejected EU criticism of Israeli exports from the illegal Jewish settlements. The EU, represented at Monday s talks by current president Sweden, condemned Israel s extra-judicial killings of Palestinians and slammed its settlements policy. But Ehud Gol, deputy director-general of the Israeli foreign ministry, said the EU risked appearing biased in the conflict, singling out for criticism a recent speech by European Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten. Israel s ambassador to the EU, Harry Kney-Tal, dismissed the Union s efforts to clamp down on Israeli exports of citrus fruits and other products from the Jewish settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank and Gaza.
Customs borders derive from political borders.
Under their association agreement, Israeli exports are exempted from customs duties. The EU is Israel s biggest trade partner, accounting for nearly a third of Israeli exports. For all their frustration with Israeli policies, the EU is likely to stop well short of threatening economic sanctions. Some member states, notably Germany due to memories of the Holocaust, are deeply reluctant to take action against Israel. Solana in region EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana was in the region on Monday trying to rally support for ideas contained in the Mitchell committee s report, which recommends a ceasefire, a cooling-off period and resumption of negotiations.