The European Union stepped up criticism of US President George W. Bush's Middle East policy shift today by telling Israel it must make peace with the Palestinians rather than its friends in Washington.
"To achieve lasting peace and security, Israel still has to reach agreement with the Palestinian people," the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said at a press conference before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Tullamore, Co Offaly.
"It remains the case that Israel has to make peace with its enemies, not its friends. Israel and the United States are not in conflict".
There was widespread dismay in European capitals this week after Mr Bush backed Israeli plans to keep parts of the occupied West Bank and dismissed the right of Palestinian refugees to return to what is now Israel.
But, anxious to avoid another transatlantic clash, the bloc strained to put a positive spin on developments, singling out Mr Bush's endorsement of a unilateral pullout by Israel from the Gaza Strip as a chance to revive the peace process.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking in Washington before talks with Mr Bush, denied Palestinian accusations that the US policy shift had crippled the "road map" peace plan put forward by major powers in 2002.
The plan crafted by the "Quartet" of the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations, laid out steps towards an independent Palestinian state and a final settlement by next year.
Mr Cowen, acknowledging differences with Washington, said: "Everyone knows that any attempt to resolve the conflict unilaterally will not bring lasting peace."