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Dubai: A major ally of Israel called on the Jewish state on Monday to stop the illegal building of colonies and proposed the designation of occupied Jerusalem as the capital of both states of Palestine and Israel.
Also proclaiming his staunch support for Israel, visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy told the Israeli parliament that "there can be no peace without stopping settlements [colonies]" in the occupied territories.
"There is a proposal backed by many members of your Knesset for the adoption of a law that would encourage settlers [colonists] to leave the West Bank in exchange for compensation and relocation in Israel," he was quoted by AFP as saying.
The Israeli government recently announced the construction of hundreds of new homes for Jewish colonists in the West Bank, infuriating the Palestinians and drawing criticism from the international community which regards all colonies on occupied land as illegal.
Sarkozy also called for an easing of travel restrictions in the West Bank, where the occupation army operates hundreds of roadblocks.
But he said the Palestinians also had to do more in order to achieve peace: "There can be no peace if Palestinians themselves do not combat terrorism."
EU support
Sarkozy said a lasting peace also required the creation of a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel with both sharing occupied Jerusalem as their capital.
"There can be no peace without recognising Jerusalem as the capital of two states and the guarantee of freedom of access to the holy places for all religions," he said.
He said both sides were assured of support from the European Union, whose rotating presidency France takes over on July 1.
"You must know you can count on Europe to help you move towards a final accord," he said.
Sarkozy meanwhile stressed that France was strongly committed to Israel's security.
"France will always be by Israel's side when its security, its existence are threatened," he said, adding that France would consider it "unacceptable" for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.
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