- BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European
Union scrambled Monday to contain the fallout from a public opinion poll
that -- to Israel's fury -- labelled the Jewish state the biggest threat
to world peace.
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- The United States was just behind Israel in the global
danger league, in joint second place with North Korea and Iran, according
to the "Eurobarometer" poll requested by the European Commission.
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- The results were part of a survey last month on Europeans'
attitudes in the aftermath of the Iraq war, which also found that more
than two-thirds of EU citizens think that the US-led war was wrong.
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- The Israeli embassy in Brussels voiced outrage at the
findings, which said that 59 percent of Europeans see Israel as a threat
to world peace.
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- "Europeans seem blind to Israeli victims and suffering.
Instead, they have put the Jewish state below the level of the worst pariah
state and terror organizations," it said in a statement.
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- "We are not only sad but outraged. Not at European
citizens, but at those who are responsible for forming public opinion,"
the embassy added.
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- "Israel's desperate struggle for peace and security
for its people has been distorted beyond recognition in often one-sided
and emotionally charged media coverage."
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- The poll had already prompted angry reactions after details
were leaked by the Spanish daily El Pais last week.
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- The Israeli ambassador to Italy -- which currently holds
the EU presidency -- told the daily Il Messagero Monday that the poll could
have significant diplomatic consequences.
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- "It seems to me that the only aim of this poll was
to denigrate Israel at a very delicate time, and I think it will it much
more difficult for Europe to fulfill its ambition to play a part in the
peace process," said Ehud Gol.
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- The EU's Italian presidency tried to play down the results,
insisting they did not reflect the official EU position.
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- "The result of the survey, based on an ambiguous
question, does not reflect the position of the European Union which has
been voiced on numerous occasions, " Italian Foreign Minister Franco
Frattini said in a statement.
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- "The EU is all the more annoyed since it is fully
aware that the Israeli population is hit hard by terrorism," it said,
criticising the "false signal" that the survey sent out.
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- According to the Eurobarometer poll, based on interviews
with 500 people in each of the 15 EU states, some 59 percent of Europeans
replied "yes" when asked whether or not Israel presents a threat
to peace in the world.
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- A total of 53 percent said Iran, North Korea and the
United States pose a threat, followed by 52 percent for Iraq, 50 percent
for Afghanistan and 48 percent for Pakistan.
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- Countries lower down the list included Syria, Libya,
Saudi Arabia, China, India, Russia and Somalia. The EU itself was described
as a threat by eight percent of respondents.
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- The EU survey was presented in the form of a list of
15 countries, from which some 7,515 respondents were asked to say which
ones they thought pose a threat to world peace.
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- Commmission spokesman Gerassimos Thomas was repeatedly
asked why the Palestinian territories were not included, while for example
the survey asked Europeans about the threat from Somalia. "It is not
a country," he replied when pressed over the Palestinians.
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- The European Commission said Israel's anger was "legitimate"
but refused to get drawn into whether the poll findings were valid.
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- "I think the (Israeli) reaction was a very legitimate
reaction," the spokesman for the EU's executive arm told reporters.
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- But he added: "It is not our task to interpret each
and every survey. We don't place excessive emphasis on one poll result."
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