Vol. 577 No. 1
73 Mr. O'Dowd asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the Israeli boycott of European Union diplomats who meet the Palestinian leader, Mr. Yasser Arafat; and if he or members of his departmental staff have discussed this boycott with representatives of the Israeli Government. [30435/03]
The Government of Israel is maintaining a policy of refusing to meet at ministerial level with foreign dignitaries who have met President Arafat. This policy prevented my meeting Israeli Government Ministers during my visit to the region at the end of June this year, when I met President Arafat. The European Union has maintained a policy of meeting President Arafat, who is the duly elected leader of the Palestinian people. While it is within the rights of the Israeli Government to decide whom it will meet, it is not acceptable that it should dictate to other Governments or their representatives with whom they should engage. At the EU's Association Council with Israel on 17 November this point was made strongly by the Foreign Ministers of Union member states to their Israeli counterpart. I also pointed out the futility of this policy to my Israeli counterpart in a bilateral meeting. At the same time, we have observed that the Israeli policy in this regard has not been consistently applied and it has been possible for some senior figures to meet President Arafat and senior Israeli leaders.
