Middle East Inside Line: EU on Dubai Killing, Netanyahu on Iran, Palestine State by 2012?

EU on Dubia Assassination: On Monday, the European Union is expected to issue a statement which will include three key elements: the EU's condemnation of the use of European passports by members of the assassination team, an expression of support for the UAE government and investigators in Dubai, and a commitment to investigate the passport forgeries and theft identities as quickly as possible.

Senior officials from Germany, France, Britain, Ireland, and the EU reportedly met Sunday to agree the language of the statement. Ireland is taking the hardest line among all EU members by demanding that the statement explicitly refer to Israel. However, according to a senior European diplomatic source, the statement will not directly cite Israel, nor is it expected to link Israel with the assassination or the forging of passports.

Meanwhile, a senior EU diplomat said on Sunday that Israel's suspected role in the slaying of a Hamas militant in Dubai and the killers' alleged use of forged EU passports will harm Israel's relations with the European bloc.

Israel Pressure for Sanctions on Iran: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Monday for an immediate embargo on Iran's energy sector, even without UN Security Council approval:

If the world "is serious about stopping Iran, then what it needs to do is not watered-down sanctions, moderate sanctions ... but effective, biting sanctions that curtail the import and export of oil into Iran.

This is what is required now. It may not do the job, but nothing else will, and at least we will have known that it was tried. And if this cannot pass in the Security Council, then it should be done outside the Security Council, but immediately.

Palestinian Protest over West Bank Lands: Following the government's decision to include some West Bank lands on its list of protected Jewish holy sites, some 100 Palestinian protesters marched to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron on Monday and clashed with Israel Defense Forces soldiers.

Fatah and Israel on Palestinian State by 2012: After the Franco-Spanish initiative to declare a Palestinian state within two years (which is, for Palestinian Authority leader Salam Fayyad, the time needed for the development of state institutions, economic reforms, and training of Palestinian security forces that would bring law and order to the West Bank), Nabil Sha'ath of Fatah's Central Committee told Ma'an news agency:

We welcome these European declarations, especially those of France, which we consider to have adopted a new attitude amidst the current political stalemate.

The result of Israel's stubbornness and ongoing settlement constriction, confiscation of Palestinian land, the Judiazation of Jerusalem, and the daily oppressions and detentions against the Palestinian people.

However, Israel's response was clear:

An imposed solution will not achieve the goals.

If the European Union will determine the results of the negotiations in advance and promises the Palestinians recognition of a state, they will have no motivation to resume negotiations.

France-Jordan Agreement on Uranium: On Sunday, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said his country will help Jordan that has close ties with Washington and Moscow concerning its nuclear energy programme realize its nuclear ambitions with the signing of an agreement Sunday to mine its uranium reserves.