Israel, for so long friendless in the Arab world, now fears becoming ostracised by the wider international community amid an increasingly fraught relationship with Europe and the United Nations. A secret foreign ministry report leaked this week warned that Israel's international standing was likely to deteriorate in coming years and its reputation could soon rival that of South Africa's former apartheid regime. Its assessment of relations with the European Union was particularly bleak, warning that if Israel continued to ignore and neglect its ties with the expanded bloc, the EU could use its economic leverage to exert pressure. The report also comes at a time of increasing friction between Israel and the United Nations, culminating in a spat between the world body's agency for Palestinian refugees (UNWRA) and the Israeli army. While Israel has admitted that it was overly hasty in alleging UNRWA had allowed one of its ambulances to be used by Palestinian militants to transport rockets in the Gaza Strip, it has refused to apologise for the accusations.
| Since it was true, after all ... |
And even traditional allies such as Turkey have been fiercely critical of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's hardline policies towards the Palestinians. David Kimche, a former director general of the foreign ministry, said there were real fears of Israel becoming a pariah state but added that the situation could be transformed if next year's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip becomes a reality. "It's a realistic assessment if the situation continues as it is today," Kimche told AFP. "If we go ahead with disengagement or disengagement is interrupted by Palestinian terror then the world will be much more understanding than it is today."
| I doubt it, the loonies will still drive the debate. |
Failure to transform the situation on the ground however could indeed lead to sanctions, he added. "We will see a worsening of relations between Israel and the outside world and could eventually be possibly in danger of sanctions as was seen in South Africa." EU sanctions would deliver a devastating blow to the Israeli economy, which is already denied access to markets within its more immediate neighbourhood in the Middle East. An EU spokeswoman said Friday said the bloc does not intend to suspend an association agreement signed with Israel on trade and political relations, rejecting a call by a UN human rights expert who said the Israeli military was "producing a humanitarian food crisis" among the Palestinians. But EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg this week also criticised a massive Israeli offensive in northern Gaza as "disproportionate."
| Since it was only a "couple" of Jooooish kids who died, after all. |
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