(Ha'aretz) Barak Ravid - Israel's Transportation Ministry canceled a tour for foreign diplomats of tunnels for the fast Tel Aviv-Jerusalem railway line under construction after the head of the EU delegation to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, urged the ambassadors not to participate because a portion of the route passes through the West Bank. A senior European diplomat noted, however, that European diplomats use Route 443, a highway which runs beyond the 1967 lines between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and would use the new train line once it is in operation. Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said, "The intervention of the ambassador from the European Union and his attempt to prevent the ambassadors from coming constitutes inappropriate interference in the internal affairs of the State of Israel. Are they boycotting the fast train to Jerusalem?" An official in his ministry said that a segment of a railway tunnel that is on the other side of the Green Line is a few hundred meters in length.
2017-05-26 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive