Kerry asks EU to delay ban on entities operating from the West Bank

Kerry asks EU to delay ban on entities operating from the West Bank

US Secretary of State John Kerry urged the European Union on Saturday to postpone a planned ban on EU financial assistance to Israeli organizations in the Palestinian territories, a US official said. Kerry made the request at a meeting with EU foreign ministers at which he also called on them to support Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, which resumed on July 29 after a nearly three-year hiatus.

The EU imposed restrictions in July, citing its frustration over the continued expansion of Jewish settlements in territory captured by Israeli forces in the 1967 Middle East War.

A senior US State Department official told reporters in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius that Kerry called on the Europeans to consider postponing the implementation of EU guidelines on aid.

"There was strong support for his efforts and an openness to considering his requests," he said.

The guidelines render Israeli entities operating in the territories ineligible for EU grants, prizes or loans, beginning next year.

They angered Israel's rightist government, which accused the Europeans of harming Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and responded by announcing curbs on EU aid projects for thousands of West Bank Palestinians.

The US Secretary of State reduced to being an errand boy running around begging for Israel. This is sickening. Israel has more than enough tools in their own government to do jobs like this it is not a job for a American representative. Hey Johnny did you say anything to Israel about the EU aid Israel cut to the West Bank Palestinians? I bet not it isn't a good idea to question your boss. Kerry should be forced to return to America and resign his position for being such an embarrassment.