Israeli Finance Minister asks World Bank to cease Gaza projects

Tuesday October 23, 2007 11:51 by John Smith - IMEMC & agencies

In a meeting with World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Monday, Israeli Finance Minister Roni Bar-On urged the body to cease all projects in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Finance Minister Roni Bar-On

Suggesting that the World Bank should cooperate with so-called moderates, Bar-on stated that "there is no room to include Hamas in this framework."

Bar-On further indicated that the West must support Israel in a policy of isolating the Gaza Strip, adding that the Israeli state was keen on economic cooperation with the West Bank, the asserted aim being to show that moderation in political dialogue pays dividends.

"We must adopt a policy of isolating the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, from the West Bank, which is controlled by moderates," Bar-On stated.

Like many officials in the Israeli government, Bar-On reiterated that Israeli would not deal with Hamas, despite the fact that the movement was freely, fairly and democratically voted into government in the last Palestinian legislative elections, and that the state would continue to isolate the Gaza Strip until the Hamas government falls, a policy that many analysts have characterized as a form of collective punishment – a policy that stands in direct contravention of human rights legislation the world over.

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