Israeli ambassador summoned to EU. A very discreet first…
(BRUSSELS2) Israel's ambassador to the European Union, David Walzer, was "summoned" today (6 December) by the European diplomatic service (EEAS). He was received this morning by Pierre Vimont, Secretary General of the EEAS, who expressed to him the "extreme concern" of the European Union about the continuation and expansion of the " colonization ". On the European side, it is indeed estimated, as C. Ashton, the High Representative, had expressed on Monday (December 3) that a " such expansion may represent a strategic step and undermine the prospects of a contiguous and viable state in Palestine with Israel, with Jerusalem as the shared capital between them. ". The EU would indeed like the Israeli government to " shows a (more determined) commitment to the rapid resumption of negotiations to end the conflict and the occupation and not to go any further in these plans” decolonization.
A very moderate first
This is the first time that the Israeli ambassador has been summoned to the European diplomatic service for this. A practice that is not isolated; several Member States (France, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, etc.) had already summoned the representative of Israel to their country. Which, in diplomatic terms, is a more solemn warning than a mere declaration. Diplomats believe that Israel has, this time, taken a step that really undermines any prospect of a Palestinian state and threatens peace.
Let us simply observe that this "convocation" took place only at the diplomatic level - the highest possible level - and not at the political level (the High Representative standing aside from this procedure). And that it only prompted a very limited publication. It was only during a question to a colleague (AFP) that the spokesperson for the High Representative confirmed this information. This testifies to a certain embarrassment of the European structure vis-à-vis this procedure. Indeed, the publicity made to the summoning of an ambassador generally gives the temperature of discontent. We can say, in this case, that the European Union is moderately unhappy. And, apparently, on the Israeli side, we are trying to play down this "summons" by reducing it to a dialogue...
