Israel sternly warned the European Union Tuesday against recognizing occupied east Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, saying such a move would damage Europe's credibility as a Mideast mediator. The warning came as Jewish settlers in the West Bank clashed with government inspectors sent to enforce a ban on new construction on territory Palestinians claim for a future state. No major violence was reported, but the images could boost the efforts of conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to portray himself as amenable to international demands for a settlement freeze. Sweden, the current EU president, is floating an initiative to recognize east Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. The Israeli daily Haaretz reported Tuesday that Sweden will seek approval at an EU meeting in Brussels next week. In Stockholm, officials declined to confirm the proposal. But diplomats in Brussels said privately that Sweden has put the issue up for a debate by the EU governments. Although the proposal is unlikely to pass, Israel's Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement urging the EU not to proceed. “The move led by Sweden damages the ability of the European Union to take a role and be a significant factor in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians,” the statement said. “Following substantial steps the Israeli government has taken to renew negotiations with the Palestinians, the Europeans must act to pressure the Palestinians to return to the negotiation table,” it said. “Steps like the ones Sweden is taking only bring about the opposite result.” The dispute over east Jerusalem - home to sensitive Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites - is the most intractable issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel captured the area in the 1967 Mideast war, immediately annexed it and claims all of Jerusalem as its eternal capital. But the annexation has not been internationally recognized, and the Palestinians want to make east Jerusalem the capital of a future state. An explicit European endorsement of their claims to east Jerusalem would be a major diplomatic victory for the Palestinians. It also would mark a significant break with tradition. The Europeans have long said Occupied Jerusalem should be a shared capital, but that Israel and the Palestinians must jointly agree on that. A Dutch diplomat called an EU decision on east Jerusalem “hard to imagine.” Major decisions require unanimous approval, and there are divisions among the 27 members over the Jerusalem issue.
