Brazil Recognition of Palestine Irks Israelis

Press TV, Sat Dec 4, 2010 10:57PM

Israel has expressed regret over Brazil's decision to recognize the state of Palestine based on the borders before Israel's occupation of the West Bank in 1967.

On Friday, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry announced that Brasilia recognizes the Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

"Israel expresses sadness and disappointment over the decision by the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a month before he steps down," AFP quoted a statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry as saying on Saturday.

"Recognition of a Palestinian state is a breach of the interim agreement which was signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 1995, which said that the issue of the status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be discussed and resolved through negotiations," it added.

Israel also accused Brazil of ignoring the 2003 Middle East roadmap for peace, which said a Palestinian state could be established through dialogue but not through unilateral measures.

"Every attempt to bypass this process and to decide in advance in a unilateral manner about important issues which are disputed, only harms trust between the sides, and hurts their commitment to the agreed framework of negotiating towards peace," the statement said.

The Brazilian announcement came in a public letter addressed to acting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chief Mahmoud Abbas. Lula sent the letter in response to a personal request by Abbas on November 24.

The letter expressed support for the Palestinians' quest for a homeland as a "legitimate aspiration of the Palestinian people for a secure, united, democratic and economically viable state."

MRS/AGB/HGL

The move has infuriated officials in Tel Aviv.

US Congressman Eliot Engel criticized the Brazilian move and said, "Brazil's decision to recognize Palestine is severely misguided and represents a last gasp by a Lula-led foreign policy which was already substantially off track."

The international community backs Palestinian demands for a state in most of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem), all territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.

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Israel blasts Argentina recognition of independent Palestine

Published yesterday (updated) 06/12/2010 20:26

JERUSALEM (AFP), Maan -

Israel on Monday described as "regrettable" a decision by Argentina to recognize a "free and independent" Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, just days after a similar move by Brazil.

"This regrettable decision will not help at all to change the situation between Israel and the Palestinians," foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP.

"It is a disappointing declaration which goes against the spirit of the agreements between Israel and the Palestinians and against negotiations for peace," he said.

The move was announced in a letter sent by Argentine President Cristina Kirchner to her Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas, which was made public on Monday.

"The Argentine government recognises Palestine as a free and independent state within the borders defined in 1967," Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said, reading from the letter.

Such a move made little contribution to peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Palmor said.

"If Argentina had wanted to make a real contribution to peace, there are other ways of doing that other than by a purely rhetorical gesture," he said.

Brazil announced its recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders on Friday, prompting a similar response from Israel which expressed its "sadness and disappointment."

Although the international community backs Palestinian demands for a state on land seized by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War, most Western governments insist that the state should be established through a negotiated peace agreement with Israel.

The move by Argentina and Brazil comes as peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians teeter on the brink of collapse following the end of a temporary ban on Jewish settlement building in the West Bank.

Over the past few weeks, Abbas has repeatedly said he would explore other options if peace talks with the Israelis collapse -- one of which would see him seeking UN recognition of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.