New EU foreign chief criticizes Israel

STRASBOURG, France, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- New EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has used her first speech on the Middle East to criticize Israel, observers say.

Ashton, in a speech Tuesday to the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, France, came down hard on the Israeli government, the EUobserver reported.

"East Jerusalem is occupied territory together with the West Bank. The EU is opposed to the destruction of homes, the eviction of Arab residents and the construction of the separation barrier," she told MEPs, characterizing Israel's move to impose a 10-month freeze on Jewish settlement expansion outside the city as only "a first step."

"We're deeply concerned about daily living conditions of people in Gaza," she said of Israel's blockade of aid shipments. "Israel should reopen the crossings without delay."

The EUobserver reported that Ashton also took a shot at former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his role as the special envoy of the Quartet -- the United States, the EU, the United Nations and Russia -- saying, "The Quartet must demonstrate that it is worth the money, that it is capable of being reinvigorated. I have talked about this with both sides in Jerusalem, to Mr. Blair and the (U.S.) secretary of state."