New Delhi, September 26
Israel today ruled out an intervention by India or any other country to resolve the Palestine issue, saying it could be settled only through direct negotiations between the two main parties to the dispute.

“We believe peace negotiations should be done directly in Jerusalem and Ramallah and can’t be enforced from outside from the shining halls in New York,’’ Israel Ambassador to India Alon Ushpiz told The Tribune. He said any solution through internationalisation of the issue was not going to be a viable one. “We don’t view this (Palestinian bid for UN membership) as a positive step that would enhance peace and security between Israel and the Palestine…We don’t think the Palestinian people are going to benefit from this.’’

On whether Israel was disappointed with India’s decision to support the Palestinian bid, the Israeli envoy said: “It’s not about disappointment…Israel and India are tremendously intimate friends. We face same challenges. We hold friendly, frank and transparent dialogue on all issues.’’

Asked If New Delhi had informed Jerusalem in advance of its decision to support the Palestinian attempt to become the 194th members of the world body, he did not give a straight reply but said “The Indian Government puts forward its position in official and public ways…we have a friendly and frank dialogue on a whole range of issues.’’

He declined to comment on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting with Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly but described the Islamic nation as a ‘terrorism sponsoring state’.

He said Israel had no dispute with the people of Iran. However, it was the regime in Tehran which supported, financed, trained and guided a whole lot of terrorist organisations like the Hamas, Hizbullah, Palestine Islamic ‘Jehad’ and such forces in the Middle East. Continuing his tirade against Iran, he said it was doing whatever it could in order to acquire military nuclear weapons.