Livni clashes with EU MP over roadblocks

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni clashed on Tuesday with a member of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee who criticized Israel for its policy in the occupied territories.

During a briefing given by Livni to the committee members in Brussels, the minister faced harsh questions regarding Israel's continued expansion of West Bank settlements, the blockade on Gaza and the roadblocks in the Palestinian territories.

At the end of the Q&A part of the briefing, Livni was asked a question by Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit, known as "Danny the Red," a German-born Jew and head of the European Greens faction at parliament, who visited Israel and the Palestinian Authority two weeks ago.

"I want to ask you one question," he said, "Do Palestinian children have to spend an hour and-a-half on the way to school because of roadblocks? This is inconceivable."

Livni was outraged by the question, and replied by saying that children in Israel – in Sderot and the Gaza-vicinity communities – often have to miss school altogether because of the rockets fired at the area from the Gaza Strip.

She stressed that although Israel had already pulled out of Gaza, the Palestinians continued to launch rockets at innocent Israeli civilians. The checkpoints are meant to assist in the war against terror, and therefore criticism regarding them should not be directed at Israel, she stated.

"Do you think that I, as a human being, want them to suffer? I don't want to, but put yourself in my position, what are the options?" she asked.

"I don't have the miracle situation how to de legitimize a regime, how to fight terror, without any impact on the population."

'Arab plan dictates all-or-nothing terms'

Livni said that as long as Gaza was being controlled by a terror group – Hamas - Israel's options on how to act there were limited. A wide-scale military operation in the Strip might be the only solution, she stated.

The foreign minister further emphasized Israel's commitment to preventing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying that Israel could have imposed further sanctions on electricity and fuel supply to the Strip but did not do so.

Commenting on the Arab peace initiative, Livni said that while the message of dialogue and normalization represented by the plan is a positive one, the problem was that the plan attempted to dictate "all or nothing" terms of negotiation to Israel. "The Arab initiative is important, but it cannot replace a process in which two sides are holding talks with one another."

During Livni's visit in Brussels, NATO's council endorsed a treaty expanding its security ties with Israel, including cooperation in the fight against terror, the exchange of intelligence, holding more joint military drills, cooperation regarding the war against the spread of nuclear weapons, and more.