Middle East - UK - US

Israeli PM Netanyahu begins European trip amidst controversy

Article published on the 2009-08-25 Latest update 2009-08-26 08:18 TU

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in talks with his UK counterpart Gordon Brown as he begins a European tour aimed at reviving Middle Eastern peace talks. The talks at 10 Downing Street come ahead of a summit on Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose government is traditionally one of Israel's closest allies in Europe.

But Netanyahu’s most important meeting is with a non-European: US President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell.

“All of the treatment [in Israel] and certainly all of the attention to the trip has been on the meeting with Mitchell and…that will be the major event," Galia Golan, an analyst with the Israeli peace movement Peace Now, told RFI.

Israel has faced international criticism over its recent settlement activity in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank and has refused to heed US and other international calls to freeze such construction.

As well as debating the prospects of peace with the Palestinians, Netanyahu will also discuss international efforts to halt Iran's nuclear drive.

The United States has threatened new sanctions if Tehran fails to return to the negotiating table.

Meanwhile Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad has unveiled his government's plans to create a “de facto” state within the next two years.

Among the priorities listed were disentangling the economy's dependence on Israel and foreign aid and cutting the size of government bureaucracy.