France, Germany, UK urge Israel to renew correspondent banking services

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) — The foreign ministries of France, Germany, and the UK called on Thursday for the urgent renewal of Israeli-Palestinian correspondent banking services.

In a statement issued late Wednesday by the three European countries known collectively as the E3, they urged Israel to urgently renew reciprocal banking arrangements for a period of at least a year to prevent economic collapse in the occupied Palestinian territories.

"Failure to renew would completely suspend cross-border trade, which would be catastrophic for the Palestinian economy," read the joint statement.

It noted that failure to renew would also endanger regional security and harm both Palestinian and Israeli businesses.

"We urge the Government of Israel to renew the indemnifications without delay for a period of least one year, in line with their obligations under the Paris Protocol," it added.

The statement said the E3 was committed to working with Israel and the Palestinian Authorities to continue countering the financing of terrorism but reiterated a failure to renew indemnifications, or another temporary renewal, "would be unacceptable" and cause serious economic damage to both Israel and the West Bank.