Jerusalem Post
Berlusconi, the right European for the Middle East's peace
By HERB KEINON
Israeli diplomatic officials expressed satisfaction on Sunday that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, slated to arrive Monday, will be the first senior EU leader to visit in recent weeks without meeting Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.
One senior official said Berlusconi understands the need to strengthen PA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. "He is one of the European leaders who understands that Arafat is part of the problem, not the solution," the official said.
The official said Berlusconi also understands well Israel's fight against terror.
Since the end of the war in Iraq, the foreign ministers of Germany, Japan, France, and Spain have all insisted despite protests from Israel and the US on meeting Arafat.
US policy since President George W. Bush's speech last June has been that American officials will not meet Arafat, and US Secretary of State Colin Powell, on his recent visit, did not meet him. The foreign ministers of Slovakia and Bulgaria, during their recent visits, also did not meet Arafat, underlining an emerging split between western European and eastern European positions on Middle East policy on the eve of the admission of eight eastern European countries to the EU in 2004.
The foreign ministers of Ireland and Denmark, who had planned visits here in the near future, have not finalized their schedule because of concern that if they meet Arafat, they will not be able to meet any Israeli officials. The Hungarian foreign minister, on the other hand, is scheduled to come in the next few weeks, and is not expected to meet with Arafat.
Berlusconi, whose country will take over the rotating presidency of the EU in July, is to meet with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Monday afternoon, and then go to the PA for a meeting with its leadership, but not with Arafat.
The Italian premier, considered one of Israel's best friends inside the EU, is scheduled to travel to Jordan and Egypt on Tuesday and then return to Jerusalem the next day for a possible additional meeting with Sharon.
Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini visited Beirut on Sunday during a regional tour. Frattini met separately with President Emile Lahoud and Foreign Minister Jean Obeid and said his talks focused on Middle East peace efforts and the road map plan.





