JERUSALEM - Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad has urged the European Union not to upgrade relations with Israel, citing lack of progress in the Middle East peace talks, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.
At a meeting with European diplomats on Monday, Fayyad said there had been no improvement of the situation in the Palestinian territories since the European Union started discussing upgrading ties with Israel on June 16.
Fayyad spoke to the officials ahead of the December 8 European Council meeting and the plenary session of the European Parliament on Wednesday at which the EU is expected decide to whether to boost ties with Israel.
Fayyad, cited by diplomatic sources, said that in the week the upgrade is being discussed, "the misery index in Gaza has never been higher" due largely to Israel's near-complete closure of the Palestinian territory over the past three weeks.
The prime minister also pointed out illegal Jewish settlement construction in the occupied West Bank has increased since the Annapolis, Maryland conference that relaunched the peace process in November last year and at which Israel reiterated its commitment to freeze all settlement activity.
Checkpoints, home demolitions and evictions in the Palestinian territories have also increased, Fayyad said.
"All of these facts on the ground have jeopardized the possibility of the two-state solution and the credibility of the negotiations process begun at Annapolis," diplomats quoted him as saying.
Fayyad also said upgrading relations would send the wrong message to the Israeli electorate ahead of February 10 legislative elections.
"The message you will be sending to the Israeli electorate is that the EU will upgrade its relations regardless of Israel’s behaviour," Fayyad said.
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