Israel voiced its dismay Sunday at the European Union's summit declaration calling for an end to the weeks of deadly Middle East violence and renewing an offer to help revive stalled negotiations.
"Israel expresses its disappointment with the EU Nice Declaration ... in which the EU was unable to present a balanced and constructive position on the situation in the Middle East," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Particularly noticeable is the absence of any reference to the Palestinian responsibility for the continued violence as expressed through the countless shooting attacks at Israeli civilians and soldiers," it said.
A total of 319 people have been killed since the violence erupted in late September, most of them Palestinians, while the death toll among Israeli soldiers and civilians, including Jewish settlers, has reached 38.
In a statement issued during their summit in Nice on Friday, the 15 member nations called for an end "to violence, the suffering of populations and hatred between peoples."
It called for a personal commitment from both Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and for both sides to respect various pledges made to work to ease the violence.
"Israel, for its part, is ready to return to the negotiating table, as soon as the violence decreases," the foreign ministry statement said. "At the same time it is vehemently opposed to any unilateral steps which are not taken within the framework of peace negotiations."
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is due in the region on Monday as a member of a five-member international panel set up to investigate the causes of the Israeli-Palestinian violence -- JERUSALEM (AFP)
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