I thank the Seanad for giving me the opportunity to make a statement on the Middle East. The Government is acutely concerned by the crisis in Israeli-Palestinian relations. The resurgence of this conflict has already taken an appalling toll of life and put in jeopardy the peace process in which so much effort and hope have been invested. It poses a real threat to the stability of the entire Middle East region.
The confrontation in the Palestinian territories and Israel is fraught with dangers. This outburst of violence occurred during that crucial and tense stage when the parties were moving closer to agreement than they had ever been. Tragically, the essential pillars of peace, trust and confidence, have been seriously undermined. Rage and frustration, stemming from the failure of each side to respond adequately to the problems of the other, have boiled over, and the world community has witnessed the awful consequences.
We have made our position clear. We deplore all acts of violence and have called for a complete cessation of acts of hostility. I renew our call on both sides to exercise the utmost restraint and to do all in their power to prevent incidents and the escalation to which they give rise. Both sides need to move in the direction of an agreement on how to revive the peace process and to avert the dangers that this conflict could incite. The major objective is the achievement of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region, which must necessarily recognise both the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and Israel's right to live in peace and security.
I pay tribute to the very impressive work of the Sharm el-Sheik fact-finding commission headed by Senator George Mitchell. Javier Solana, the High Representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, also played a major role in the commission's work on behalf of the EU. Their intention was to save the peace process. We know from our experience of building peace in Northern Ireland that there is no other way forward.
The Government has welcomed the commission's report which was published on Monday. The report recommends that the Government of Israel and the Palestinian authority should reaffirm existing agreements and immediately cease violence, immediately resume security co-operation, establish a meaningful cooling off period and discourage incitement in all its forms. These recommendations are broadly similar to those made in the initiative undertaken recently by Egypt and Jordan. They are designed to bring a halt to the current violence and open a way towards the resumption of peace negotiations.
The measures also call for a freeze on all settlement activity, the lifting of the closures of Palestinian towns, the transfer to the Palestinian authority of all tax revenues owed, permission for Palestinians to return to their jobs in Israel and for Israeli security forces and settlers to refrain from the destruction of homes, roads, trees and agricultural property. These measures are similar to those contained in the draft resolution tabled by Ireland and three other European countries, France, the United Kingdom and Norway, at the United Nations Security Council in March.
The Government is convinced that such measures offer the only possible path out of the current violence and towards a peaceful solution of this tragic conflict in which so many lives have been lost. I have called on both sides to move to adopt the measures recommended by the Mitchell report and to act urgently to halt further acts of violence and, in particular, to do all in their power to de-escalate the level of violence.
In a live televised broadcast on Tuesday night, Prime Minister Sharon broadly welcomed the Mitchell report as a constructive and positive document and as a positive basis which may enable both sides to break the cycle of violence. It is noteworthy that it was after this broadcast that an aide to Prime Minister Sharon announced that the Government had ordered the Israeli military to cease all initiated actions against the Palestinians as a first step towards implementing the Mitchell commission's proposals for calming the violence.
Press analysis has overwhelmingly assessed the Mitchell report as offering the best hope of a path away from the abyss, a lifeline of which everyone must grab a firm hold. The parties no doubt have hard things to say to each other but it would be best if these were said in the most propitious framework in the present circumstances. The important thing is that they speak to each other, work to overcome their mutual mistrust and do their best, with outside help, to restore an atmosphere conducive to negotiation. There must be a political process. A vacuum will simply allow the extremists on either side to exploit the fears of ordinary Palestinians and Israelis alike, reinforcing the vicious circle of violence.
We are playing a part in the intensive diplomatic efforts being made to bring the crisis to an end, bilaterally with both sides, in the EU and as a member of the Security Council. In our bilateral contacts with Israel, we have encouraged them to join the Palestinian authority in seeking to rebuild trust and confidence, mutual respect, parity of esteem and a spirit of partnership. I outlined our experience on these islands in developing a win-win approach. I also reminded them of the concrete contribution Ireland has made to peace in the region through our participation in UN peacekeeping in Lebanon, where the safety of our troops is of ongoing concern.
Stressing the need for maximum restraint on all sides, we assured them of our support for all efforts to restore calm and to find a way forward to a peaceful solution. We have strongly put forward our views. I met the Palestinian Minister for Planning and International Co-operation, Dr. Nabil Sha'ath, in Dublin on Tuesday. He was also received by the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was encouraged that the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, had endorsed the Mitchell report and he said that the Palestinian authority will honour its part of the report's recommendations. He asked that both Ireland and our EU partners do all we can in dialogue with the United States to persuade them to embrace the report's recommendations and engage in rebuilding the peace process. He said that the Palestinians should have recourse to the Fourth Geneva Convention. He wanted the parties to the convention, as he put it, to signal international displeasure at the violation of international law and requested that the EU member states convey their agreement to reconvening a conference on this issue in Geneva. I cannot report that he was optimistic about the prospects for early progress towards a resumption of meaningful negotiations with the Israeli Government. Nevertheless, he called for Europe to play a full supportive role in the search for peace.
The EU General Affairs Council last week addressed the crisis. My EU colleagues and I had a thorough discussion with UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, about the difficulties posed by the current situation. The EU position is to impress on all parties the need to de-escalate the level of violence and adopt a package of concurrent, mutually supportive measures and not to insist on single measures which in isolation are incapable of being either accepted or implemented. Key points would be the implementation of existing agreements and an end to all further settlement activities. The EU position on Israel's settlement policy is clear. All settlement activities in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and on the Golan Heights are illegal under international law and constitute a major obstacle to peace. This includes what is known as the natural growth of settlements, which is a violation of international law that cannot be allowed to continue unabated.
Ireland is working actively as a member of the Security Council in the search for ways to overcome the breakdown in trust. Ireland and three other European countries, France, the United Kingdom and Norway, tabled a draft resolution in March. We had further discussions in the council this week and last week and these are to be taken further in the coming days. The use of lethal weapons and recourse to disproportionate and excessive retaliation have been widely condemned.
The Israeli Government has been criticised, particularly by the leading newspapers in Israel, for its use of F16 jet fighters to bomb Palestinian targets on Friday, 18 May in retaliation against the suicide bombing in Netanya on the same day which we absolutely condemn. This is further evidence that these newspapers have taken issue, not with the principle of retaliation, but with the means, arguing that by Israel's use of the F16s, the Palestinian authority gained the upper hand in the public relations battle and that European and US Sunday newspapers gave more emphasis to the Israeli high-tech warfare machine than the deed of the suicide bomber.
Another dimension is that at the same time the Palestinian Authority still faces enormous financial and institutional problems. The international donor meeting in Stockholm on 11 April was a concrete step towards a solution to the authority's budgetary crisis, particularly the commitments made by Arab countries. Following the Stockholm meeting, the European Commission and the authority have been discussing the basis for future assistance. This includes measures intended to enhance financial management and complete the process of institutional reform. Some of these measures, in particular those referring to institutional reform, constitute a clear confirmation of commitments announced in the past by the authority.
The Palestinian Authority is also working on other welcome reforms related to financial management, such as the consolidation of revenues. The IMF is monitoring this process. On this basis the European Union is to make monthly payments of 10 million to the authority during the next six months.
I assure the House that we will continue to work together with our partners and friends in Europe, Israel and the Arab world, to encourage a return to the only path which leads away from conflict and towards genuine peace, security and justice for all the peoples and countries of the Middle East. I will also make every effort to ensure that this House and the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs is kept fully informed and notified of the Government's activities to this end.