An empty gesture by Britain

UNLESS British Foreign Secretary David Miliband knows considerably more about the alleged Mossad passport scandal than he has so far revealed, the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat from London appears remarkably heavy-handed. Little good will follow from isolating Israel, the Middle East's only stable democracy, at a dangerous moment in the region. The use of forged passports in the plot to kill Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January is indeed an infringement of sovereignty and tests longstanding friendships. But the infraction comes nowhere near Mabhouh's murderous record.

Wisely, Israel has not announced counter-measures and responded to the rebuke with an expression of regret. Mossad needed a sharp lesson, but unfortunately Britain has overplayed its hand at a time when Western nations would do more for the cause of Middle East peace by maintaining close ties with Israel. The hostility in the House of Commons, where one MP claimed that Israel was becoming a "rogue state" is a sad reflection of the growing climate of anti-Israeli sentiment in Britain.

The timing of Israel's decision to build 1600 new homes in East Jerusalem as tentative peace talks were about to begin earlier this month was unfortunate to say the least. But the reaction from the US administration has only inflamed the situation. The Obama administration will harden attitudes in Israel if it makes peace negotiations hostage to demands that can never be met. Israel's attempts to find a peaceful solution, from the time of Yitzhak Rabin in 1992 onwards, were rebuffed, often with hostility. In 2000, Ehud Barak offered to set up an independent state in Gaza and 95 per cent of the West Bank and territory from Israel proper to compensate for the remaining 5 per cent. But then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat, unwilling to be seen to give up the fight with Israel, foolishly rejected the offer. An even more generous offer, including much of East Jerusalem, was made by Ehud Olmert in 2008 and similarly rejected by Mahmoud Abbas.

And in 2005, when Israel withdrew from Gaza, Hamas responded by shelling Israel and launching a brutal takeover of the territory. In a hostile region, friction between Israel and its allies will only be exploited by Israel's regional enemies, delaying progress towards a viable two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.