Ammon News - Jerusalem - Israel should be a member of the European Union, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Monday, as he kicked off a landmark three-day visit to the Jewish state and the Palestinian areas.

"My greatest desire, as long as I am a protagonist in politics, is to bring Israel into membership of the European Union," he said at a formal welcoming ceremony in Jerusalem.

The Italian leader, accompanied by seven of his ministers, arrived in Israel Monday afternoon.

In the course of stay, he will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni, and President Shimon Peres, and will also hold talks with Palestinian officials in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the first-ever joint Israeli-Italian cabinet session is slated to take place in Jerusalem and on Wednesday, in a rare gesture by Israel to a foreign leader, he is scheduled to address a special session of the Knesset.

Netanyahu said a series of agreements, including on energy, the environment and health, would be signed during the visit.
"We will work to strengthen and deepen the relations between Israel and Italy," he said at the welcoming ceremony, and called Berlusconi "one of the greatest friends of Israel."

"I can think of very few nations who have made such a contribution to Western culture as our two nations. In Rome and Jerusalem, the foundations for Western culture were laid," he added.

Iran's nuclear programme - which Israel sees as an existential threat - and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process are also expected to feature in the talks Berlusconi will hold during his visit.

Speaking to the Ha'aretz daily ahead of his trip, he called Israel's settlement policy in the occupied West Bank a "mistake" which could be an obstacle to any peace settlement.

"It will never be possible to convince the Palestinians of Israel's good intentions while Israel continues to build in territories that are to be returned as part of a piece agreement," he said in an interview published Sunday.

"I would like to say to the people and government of Israel, as a friend, with my hand on my heart, that persisting with this policy is a mistake," he said. (DPA)


** Photo of Berlusconi's visit to Israel by AFP