Speaking at a conference on Israel's relations with the European Union (news - web sites), German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said the EU had objected to the international court in The Hague (news - web sites), Netherlands, considering the legality of the barrier. He said Israel had a right to protect its citizens from terror attacks.
The planned route of the barrier — a combination of fences, walls, trenches and electric sensors — dips deep into the West Bank in several places. Israel says it is needed to keep out suicide bombers, but Palestinians denounce it as a land grab and initiated the world court procedure through the United Nations (news - web sites).
"We are not criticizing the fence. We are criticizing the line of the fence," Fischer said. "We hope the Israeli government will put forward some wise decisions and change substantially the course of the fence."
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, speaking at the same event, thanked Germany for its support over the court hearing.
"We believe the Hague court cannot rule on this issue, which is a political matter," he said. "Germany's approach was the proper one, and we appreciate it."
Israel, has long seen the EU as skewed in favor of the Palestinians, but Shalom said he saw signs of change.
Shalom said he has repeatedly told Washington that he would like to see greater European involvement in Mideast peace efforts, and there was no contradiction between Israel's traditional alliance with the United Sates and closer future ties with the EU.
Fischer, who will meet Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia on his return to Berlin on Tuesday, said Europe was ready to increase its role in peace efforts, "but of course the U.S. is in the driver's seat."
On Sharon's Gaza settlement pullout plan, Fischer said: "We welcome every attempt by the parties in this dead end situation, and this includes Prime Minister Sharon's statement that the Gaza settlements ought to be dismantled. In my view, this is a very promising perspective."
Sharon has said that as part of a series of unilateral steps he would impose if peace talks with the Palestinians remain stalled, he would remove almost all the Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip.
In Berlin, meanwhile, President Johannes Rau said Germany would like to help get a peace plan back on track after meeting Monday with Qureia.
The Palestinian prime minister is on his first trip to Germany in an effort to drum up Berlin's continued participation in the region.
Germany has worked to make itself an intermediary between Israel and the rest of the Middle East, most recently helping orchestrate a prisoner exchange between the Lebanese Hezbollah organization and Israel.
Qureia said he wanted a peace deal in the region, but decried what he called his people's brutal treatment at the hands of Israel.
"I made it clear (to President Rau) that the Palestinian people are a people under pervasive suffering," Qureia said.
Qureia also expressed hope that a scheduled meeting with Sharon, which was to have taken place on Feb. 21-22, would occur "at the end of the month, or the beginning of the next month." Aides to both men have been meeting on and off for weeks to set up something, but have been unsuccessful so far.
The Palestinians "have nothing against the meeting," Qureia said.
The U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, which aims to end more than three years of fighting and has stalled in recent months.
In December, Sharon suggested another plan, in which the country would withdraw soldiers and settlers from parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and impose a temporary boundary between Israel and the West Bank.
