Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 JERUSALEM, Israel-Since U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry took office in February, it has been his mission to negotiate peace between Palestine and Israel.  Recently, Kerry has urged the European Union to stop their proposed ban on financial aid to Israeli organizations in Palestine.

The European Union’s decision to withhold was implemented in July, due to frustrations arising out of “continued expansion of illegal Jewish settlements in territory captured by Israeli forces in the 1967 Middle East War.”

One U.S. State Department official reported on the receptiveness of the European Union to Kerry’s petition saying, “There was strong support for his efforts and an openness to considering his requests.”

Angered Israeli rightists have claimed that the European Union’s ban on aid will hinder Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.  The guidelines of the ban make Israeli entities operating in the occupied territories in Palestine ineligible for EU grants, prizes, or loans, starting next year.

Palestinians have praised the proposed ban claiming it to be a “concrete step against settlement construction” which is feared to deny the viability of the Palestinian state.

Catherine Ashton, the European Union Foreign Policy Chief responded to Kerry’s requests saying, “We of course want to continue having a strong relationship with Israel.”

Ashton further went on to report that a team is headed to Israel on Monday to ensure smooth implementation of the new ban’s guidelines.  Discussions will be held covering the implementation process, but no renegotiation is scheduled to occur.

However, a dispute over the guidelines could jeopardize an 80-billion-euro ($107 billion) European research program known as Horizon 2020, which is a European Union Israeli project in its initial stages.

Another growing concern is the effects that the funding ban may have on individuals or companies based in Israel who might be operating in business settlements that will be rendered illegal by the international community.

Kerry is scheduled to meet with European Ministers to try and clear up the funding issues.  “He would tell them that it’s important for those parties who have an interest in a successful outcome (to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations) that they be supportive of this effort and that they find a way to embrace the negotiators and encourage them to move forward,” reported a U.S. official.

Kerry is also expected to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hopefully settle a six-decade-old Israeli-Palestinian dispute over borders, Palestinian refugees, and the future of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

For more information, please see the following:

Aljazeera-US urges EU to postpone Israel settlement ban-8 September 2013

Daily Times-EU to postpone funding ban in Israeli-occupied territories: Kerry– 8 September 2013

Reuters-Kerry urges EU to postpone funding ban in Israeli-occupied territories-7 September 2013

Voice of America-Kerry Urges EU to Postpone Funding Ban in Israeli-Occupied Territories– 7 September 2013