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Miliband challenges Israel on West Bank settlements

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband is expressing strong opposition to Jewish settlement in the West Bank, and officials are speaking of an economic offensive to try to force them to be taken down.

Miliband will also urge Syria to tie up peace talks with its historical enemy during talks over the next two days in Jerusalem and Damascus, Israeli and British officials said on Sunday as he began his visit. He also has meetings scheduled in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, his office said.

Miliband is pressing European partners for tighter control of imports to the EU from the Jewish settlements, some of which are admitted at European ports as the produce of Israel and therefore enjoy tariff benefits under an Israel-EU treaty, the officials said.

“We know of the British concern referring to this matter,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said. “We have been involved for some time now in dialogue with our British counterparts in order to find a way to solve this issue.”

British embassy spokeswoman Karen Kaufman said that in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday, the two had a “clear exchange of views” on the subject but she said Miliband told Olmert that London was not seeking to rewrite existing agreements.

“The foreign secretary made it clear that Britain is not trying to shift the goal posts on this issue but is following up on representations made to us about the workings of the system,” she said.

Palestinians officials said they had made their position clear to Britain and the EU, calling for a ban on benefits for products made in settlements, a ban on dealings with companies based in settlements and a declaration that transactions with settlement-based businesses are illegal. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because no formal statement has been made.

Miliband later met Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and pledged to pay a solidarity visit to Sderot, the battered Israeli border town where a rocket from Gaza earlier hit a house under construction, slightly wounding one person.

European diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity as a fresh economic offensive on the West Bank settlements has not been officially approved, said Miliband had been trying to muster support in Brussels for tougher implementation of customs regulations in the hope that settlements, a core issue in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, could be placed under a siege that could help hasten their dismantlement.
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