Britain on Tuesday night joined with all 25 nations of the European Union in calling on Israel to dismantle its barrier dividing the country from the occupied West Bank.
The United Nations general assembly’s vote in New York comes as a leaked analysis in London shows government concern at United States ”disengagement” from the peace process due to concerns over Iraq, the presidential election and the instability of the Palestinian leadership.
One hundred and fifty nations voted in favour of dismantling the wall, 10 abstained, and six — Israel, the US, Australia, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau — rejected the motion.
The resolution has no legal power, and has already been rejected both in Jerusalem and by the Israeli ambassador in the UN chamber, who called it ”outrageous”.
The Guardian on Wednesday reports on a new analysis by the Department for International Development and the Foreign Office bemoaning ”a lack of effective international engagement on the Middle East peace process due to other international priorities in 2004”.
That blunt assessment belies the boast made by the US president, George Bush, in Belfast last year to devote as much time to the Israeli-Palestinian problem as Tony Blair had given to Northern Ireland.
Instead, the document, signed by the international development secretary, Hilary Benn, states: ”The role of the USA, the country with the most leverage over Israel, is key. Frustration with aspects of the Palestinian leadership, preoccupations in Iraq, presidential and security concerns for US citizens may risk USA disengagement at the highest levels from the peace process when it is most likely to start collapsing.”
It goes on: ”There is now a medium to high probability that there will be a lack of effective international engagement on the Middle East peace process due to other international priorities in 2004.”
The analysis concludes that EU influence is ”limited”.
A foreign affairs select committee report on the ”war on terror”, due in a fortnight, is expected to make mention of the current crisis in the Middle East.
On Wednesday the chairperson of the Labour Friends of Israel, James Purnell, said it was ”predictable” that the next six months in Washington would concentrate on the presidential election.
He said: ”If you look at this administration as a whole, they have clearly shown more activity over their first term on the Middle East than many people would predict when they first came to power.
”And it’s clear that it was Tony Blair’s intervention that persuaded them towards the roadmap and becoming the first US administration to adopt a ‘two-state’ solution.
”But it would be extremely brave of them to go on a foreign affairs issue in the six months up to an election — it would be the same here, and it would be a double standard to apply a different standard to the US.”
He said he hoped a disengagement from the Gaza strip by Israel would lead to a reengagement around the negotiating table.
Tuesday night’s vote in the general assembly of the UN follows a judgement earlier this month from the international court of justice in the Hague that the wall illegally cut into Palestinian land.
The 191-nation vote at the UN cannot be enforced, although a resolution in the security council could impose sanctions — if it received unanimous backing. The US traditionally abstains or rejects motions critical of Israel.
The Palestinian Authority has said it will delay calling for a security council resolution until after the US election.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman said: ”It is simply outrageous to respond with such vigour to a measure that will save lives.”
The EU voted as a bloc after the motion included calls for both Israel and the Palestinians to meet the roadmap obligations. – Guardian Unlimited Â