A group of former German diplomats urges the Berlin government to take a harder line toward Israel over its illegal settlement expansions. According to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 24 former diplomats and ambassadors have signed a petition urging Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to help "fair peace" in the Middle East.
Among the diplomats who singed it were Hans-Georg Wieck, former chief of Germany's Federal Intelligence service (BND), and German ambassadors Gerhard Fulda and Michael Libal.
"Israel cannot expect to emerge a winner of peace and at the same time to keep the Palestinian territories," the diplomats said in the document obtained by the Munich newspaper. "The continuation of certain benefits or financial support to one side or the other, as well as an increasing convergence with the European Union, could be made dependable on concrete progress in conflict management," the petition added. |