Still deliberating. Sharon
צילום: רויטרס
Will Sharon attend Spanish convention?
Prime Minister meant to head Israeli delegation to Barcelona Convention. However, political turmoil in Labor, fear of coalition collapse will apparently force him to stay home
Following Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's failure to pass the Likud ministerial appointments in the Knesset on Monday, as well as Amir Peretz's victory in the Labor party's primaries, Sharon is deliberating whether to head the Israeli delegation to the Barcelona Convention in Spain as planned.
The Israeli delegation to the Barcelona Convention is expected to present nine joint initiatives together with Arab and European countries. British Prime Minister Tony Blair is also expected to attend the convention this year.
On the one hand, Sharon should attend the convention in order to prove that following the Gaza pullout, Israel is headed toward advancing the process of stabilizing the Middle East.
However, the prime minister is currently going through hard political times, which may prevent his participation in the prestigious event.
'Decision by end of the week'
The foreign ministers and heads of states' convention, which will be held in Barcelona on November 27-28, will mark the 10th anniversary of the initiative. If Sharon does not attend, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom is expected to head the Israeli delegation.
In a business convention held Thursday, Shalom said that his people were working on preparing a booklet which will detail the nine initiatives Israel is hoping to implement with neighboring countries, with the cooperation of European countries. Israel intends on returning from Barcelona with decisions on implementing some of these projects.
The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership took shape in the foreign ministers' convention that was held in Barcelona on November 1995. The Barcelona Declaration following the convention reflected the joint initiative of 27 countries which sought to create relations along the Mediterranean coasts.
The partnership's goal is to lead to peace, stabilization and development in the area, which is of crucial strategic importance to Europe.
Sharon's aides confirmed to Ynet that the prime minister has still not made a decision whether to attend the Barcelona Convention.
"A decision will be made by the end of the week," the aides said.
