Is French President Nicolas Sarkozy able to trigger a revolutionary change in local geopolitics or will he join the line of dignitaries who failed to leave an imprint on Israeli-Arab relations?
Freddy Eytan, who heads the Israel-Europe project at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, sees Sarkozy's initiative to create a Mediterranean Union in hopes of fortifying ties with North-African states, several of which are opposed to Israel's involvement in the union, as a great initiative for economic cooperation which can serve as a basis for political stability.
"France's involvement can help us," Eytan told Xinhua, noting that the Mediterranean union joining Europe with the Arab states is a good idea.
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy are welcomed by Israel's President Shimon Peres (2nd R) as they arrive at Tel Aviv airport June 22, 2008. "I am not sure whether Algeria and Libya will come...but it is a good idea for economic cooperation," he said, noting it might also allow for more direct relations with Syria.
"It is important to have an economic project joining people," he said. "When you have economic cooperation, it is easier to find common ground politically."
Eytan's reference to common ground, however, apparently stops with Jerusalem as he believes Sarkozy's expectations of a "one capital two state solution," that would divide Jerusalem between Israel and a Palestinian state is unrealistic.
"No Israeli government, either the left or the right constituencies, would support a one capital two state solution," Eytan said. "Any government would be opposed to this formula."
Sarkozy is the first French president to visit Israel since Francois Mitterand visited in 1982.
In an essay by Dr. Tsilla Herscho, a research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, she points out that though Sarkozy's warm words of support for Israel appear to laud anew era of closer Franco-Israeli ties, France continues to "immorally equate acts of terror with (Israel's) acts of defense."
In his speech during a special session of the Knesset (parliament) on Monday, Sarkozy called on Israel to end its settlement activity in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, saying there would be "no peace without a solution to the problem of the Palestinian refugees," a sticking point in negotiations between the two sides.
France "fiercely demands the removal of checkpoints which are intended to protect Israeli citizens from acts of Palestinian terror...and blames Israel for the economic damage incurred by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and for the PNA's failure to establish effective governance."
Hershco further notes that France's insistence on viewing Hezbollah not as a terrorist organization but rather an integral part of Lebanese political life combined with a recent warming in relations with Syria, believed by Israel to fund Hezbollah, could dim Franco-Israeli relations on the road.
Professor Gerald Steinberg of Bar Ilan University brushed aside France's expectations of Israel as articulated by Sarkozy regarding the return of territories seized in 1967 and Arab refugees as "relatively empty words," noting that "the visit allows for a dialogue which involves listening and dealing with the situation at hand."
"Palestinian issues are driven by the Americans, the outcome of which will not depend on what Europe does," he said.
Source:Xinhua
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