Official: EU foreign policy chief unwelcome in Israel
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has signaled to the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, that he is not welcome to visit following critical comments he made about Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank, Israeli officials said Wednesday.
The incident marked the latest sign of deteriorating relations between Israel’ s new far-right government and some of its closest allies.
Borrell upset Israel with an article published last week that Israeli officials said equated the Israeli victims of Palestinian attacks with militants killed in Israeli army operations.
“Being honest means acknowledging that extremism is rising on both sides. Indiscriminate attacks and violence are taking many lives,” Borrell wrote in “Project Syndicate.”
“Violence on the part of Israeli settlers in the West Bank is increasingly threatening Palestinian lives and livelihoods — almost always with impunity. Moreover, Israeli military operations frequently cause civilian Palestinian deaths, often without effective accountability,” he added.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen condemned the comments in a conversation with Borrell on Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.
“There is no room for comparison or balancing between the victims of terrorism on the Israeli side and the Palestinian terrorists supported by the Palestinian Authority,” he said.
An Israeli official said Wednesday that while there were no official plans or requests for Borrell to visit, the Israeli government had made it clear to him that he is not welcome at the current time.
“He’s not banned,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter on the record. “We don’t think it’s a good time to come.”
In Brussels,...