A delegation from the European Union met today with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres in an attempt to move Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiations table. Led by Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, the Europeans pressed Israeli leaders to forgo their insistence on a period of seven days of quiet before resuming peace negotiations, but Israel was cool to the idea.

At a joint press conference this afternoon Sharon said, "Our aim today is first of all to bring about a cease-fire, to bring quiet. The negotiating team that I established and which I head, in conjunction with Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, will conduct negotiations to r each a cease-fire. When there is quiet, when the terror finally ceases, then we can talk peace," he said, signaling Israel's refusal to give up the quiet period and negotiate "under fire."

Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said that the European delegation was not advancing its own diplomatic initiative. The Europeans appeared, instead, to be promoting ideas that will reportedly be raised by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Monday in his long-awaited foreign policy statement presenting the Bush administration's vision for the Middle East.

According to Nabil Abu Rudaineh, an aide to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, "the Europeans, with the U.S., Russians and the UN, are coordinating in order to push the peace process forward somehow... But everybody is waiting for Powell's speech."

Speaking at a press conference yesterday in Ramallah after meeting Palestinian leaders, Verhofstadt praised the U.S. administration for its renewed involvement in the region.

"There is now within the international community a general agreement, that if we want to find a solution... we have to create a viable Palestinian state," he said.

Verhofstadt called for an immediate resumption of negotiations. "The Europeans want to underline that after the 12 days of relative quiet recently there is a need to relaunch the peace process," he said. Verhofstadt insisted he was presenting a "balanced" approach to the Middle East conflict, but called on Israel to ease conditions for the Palestinians.

According to diplomatic sources, Israel has no intention of acceding to European demands. "First of all, the Europeans must be objective, then we will start to relate to them seriously," a senior source told Maariv last night. "At this stage, they are showing clear indications of being on the Palestinian side," he added.

"The European Union has in the past demonstrated a lack of balance in its policy toward Israel, and therefore its ability to play a constructive mediating role is limited," said Sharon spokesman Raanan Gissin today.

Reports that the European Union may soon lift the duty-free status on Israeli products made beyond the Green Line, including eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, has only increased the sentiment that the EU in general, and Belgium in particular, are biased toward the Palestinians.

The visit of the European delegation, at a time when Belgium holds the EU's rotating presidency, started on a sour note due to the screening Friday night of a BBC report on the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres entitled "The Accused" on Belgian state television (RTBF). Israel has officially protested the airing of the program and is particularly incensed it was shown on the eve of the EU visit.

Belgian Ambassador to Israel William Geens said the Belgians also "regret the timing of the show, on the eve of the visit, and have done everything [they] can to make the visit here a success."

89 senators urge Bush not to restrain Israel
Meanwhile, in a letter sent yesterday to President George W. Bush, 89 senators urged him not to restrain Israel from retaliating fully against Palestinian violence and to publicly express his solidarity with Israel.

The six-paragraph letter was intended to prevent Powell from including direct or indirect criticism of Israel and from offering inducements to the Palestinians in the foreign policy speech he will give in Kentucky on Monday, the New York Times reported.

"Powell talks about the cycle of violence that suggests one produces the other and that there is a moral equivalency, which is not true," said Senator Arlen Specter (Rep-Pennsylvania) who is one of the signatories. "Terrorists killing civilians is totally unjustified, and Israel's response is self-defense," he said.

In the letter, the senators praised President Bush for what they called "the correct course" in refusing to meet Yasser Arafat, and urged the president to continue to refuse to meet him until Arafat has taken steps to end the violence against Israel.

The president is believed to have sided with the Pentagon and with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and has cautioned Powell from putting too much pressure on Israel to make concessions in the search for peace, the Daily Telegraph reported. As a result, Powell's long-awaited Middle East policy speech will be "less of a new initiative and more of a general call for people to buck up their ideas," the paper reported.

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