Ceist:
59 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the EU General Affairs Council has recently considered the position on the MiddleEast peace process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27736/98]
Written Answers. - Middle East Peace Process
The Government is following with concern the current developments in the Middle East peace process arising from the problems which emerged in the context of the implementation of the Wye River Memorandum signed on 23 October.
As Deputies may be aware the Wye agreement provided for a redeployment of Israeli troops from 13 per cent of the occupied territories over a 12 week period. This redeployment was to be accompanied by actions on the Palestinian side relating to the removal of anti-Israeli clauses in the Palestinian Charter and by the taking of certain specific measures in the security field. A committee was to be set up to oversee the negiotiatons on the final status issues involving the status of Jerusalem, refugees, water, settlements and borders. Israel also undertook to release 750 Palestinian prisoners over a 12 week period.
The Wye agreement also provided for a meeting of a donor conference to provide funds for the next five years for the latest stage of the process. This took place at Washington on 30 November. A total of $3 billion for the next five years was pledged by the international community. Ireland pledged $10m on that occasion.
Implementation of the agreement has been hindered by numerous difficulties and differences of interpretation which have arisen. The Joint Israeli-Palestinian Committee set up under Wye to discuss final status issues has met only once. Israel has indicated that it will release only prisoners who have not been convicted on charges of violence. For its part Israel has complained that the Palestinian side have not delivered on their commitments. There has been renewed rioting in the streets and unfortunately several deaths have occurred.
Tension was heightened when, on 2 December, it was reported that the Israeli cabinet had stipulated three new conditions to be met before further redeployments could take place, providing that the Palestinians abandon publicly plans to proclaim an independent state on 4 May 1999, cease demanding the release of Palestinian political prisoners, and halt incitement to anti-Israeli violence.
The Palestinian cabinet categorically rejected these demands which they viewed as additional conditions for the implementation of the Wye agreement.
Against this background, political tensions have continued to arise. Some of the Palestinian political detainees held in Israeli jails are on hunger strike and the Israeli Government has suspended the next stage of the Israeli troop redeployment, which was scheduled to take place on 18 December.
I hope that the recent visit by President Clinton to the region will have helped to restore confidence on both sides in the Peace Process.
The European Union, which has supported the entire peace process, particularly the part played by the US, is following developments closely. The General Affairs Council meeting on 7 December, which I attended, issued a statement which strongly urged both sides to exercise restraint and to continue to implement the Wye agreement. The council also noted with satisfaction the outcome of the Washington donor conference of 30 November. I and my fellow EU Foreign Ministers also discussed the situation in some detail when we met last week during the European Council at Vienna.
I wish to assure the House that I will continue to monitor the situation in the Middle East and ensure that we and our EU partners will do everything we can to promote the peace process.