Israeli press split on London conference

Relations between Israel and the UK are under pressure

Planned talks in London to discuss reforms to the Palestinian National Authority receive wide coverage in today's Israeli newspapers.

The right-leaning daily Hatzofe backs Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's refusal to lift the ban on Palestinian officials from travelling to the conference, scheduled for 14 January.

Following the double suicide bombing in Tel Aviv earlier this week, in which 22 people were killed, the paper says the travel ban "deserves praise and support".

It believes that in organising the conference the "self-righteous-hypocrite" Britain has only its own interests at heart.

Blair deserves to be treated less crudely by the Israeli government

Ha'aretz

"Britain wants to signal to Islamic terrorist organisations that it, in fact, supports them, and for this reason they should not consider it a target for terrorist attacks," it says.

But the leftist Ha'aretz disagrees, calling for the ban to be lifted.

While it concedes that the Israeli Government's "discomfort" about the upcoming talks has some justification, it stresses that "wisdom and good judgement" should mean that the Palestinian officials are allowed to attend.

Blair's role

Ha'aretz has kind words to say about Tony Blair's role as mediator in the conflict, stating: "He has more than once proven his friendship for Israel and his commitment to finding a fair solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

UK-Israeli ties have been on the verge of crisis for several months

Yediot Aharonot

"He deserved to be treated more generously and less crudely by the government of Israel," the paper adds.

A former Israeli envoy to the United Kingdom, Dror Zeigerman, writing in the independent Ma'ariv, also describes Mr Blair as "a great friend of Israel".

But he goes on to say that Mr Blair's "lack of understanding of Israeli politics, certain degree of naivety and Jewish advisers well connected to the Israeli Labour Party" have led him to make diplomatic errors.

UK-Israeli ties

The impact that the current diplomatic spat will have on future relations between the two countries also comes under the spotlight.

A commentary by Rami Tal in the centrist Yediot Aharonot says that UK-Israeli ties have been "on the verge of crisis for several months".

But he believes that the London conference is "no reason to disturb our relations with Europeans" as the participation of Palestinian representatives will not damage Israeli interests.

"Someone in Jerusalem must come to his senses and find a way to the correct decision."

Dror Zeigerman in Ma'ariv also plays down the affair.

He believes that there is no reason for the Israeli government to lift the Palestinian travel ban, but says:

"The fear that this will harm diplomatic relations between the two countries is exaggerated."

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.