JERUSALEM (November 18) - Friday night´s airing in Belgium of a controversial BBC television program on whether Prime Minister Ariel Sharon should be tried for war crimes in Lebanon´s 1982 Sabra and Shatilla massacres has cast a shadow on the visit today of a high- level EU delegation, headed by Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.

Israeli Ambassador to Brussels Shaul Amor sent an angry protest to the management of the television station, RTBF, saying the timing of the broadcast - the show first aired in England in June - could damage Israeli-Belgian ties and is an attempt to influence the outcome of the legal case against Sharon currently being waged in Belgium.

A key hearing on whether Sharon can be tried in Belgium for having indirect responsibility for the massacres by Lebanese Christian militiamen is to take place this week.

A senior Foreign Ministry official expressed "shock and dismay" over the timing of the broadcast, just two days before the EU´s meetings in Israel and a week before the Sharon hearing.

Another diplomatic source said the Belgians seem to be playing a "duplicitous game" when it comes to the Sharon trial, on the one hand sending calming messages to Israel regarding the trial, and on the other "not preventing, and even helping to encourage, a hostile atmosphere in Belgium toward Sharon."

Belgian Ambassador to Israel William Geens responded by saying the Belgian government is also upset about the timing of the program. He further said that it does not represent the view of his government.

However, Geens said, RTBF has a "fiercely independent" editorial policy, and any attempt to interfere with the broadcast of the show would have "provoked a scandal about freedom of the press" that would have been "counterproductive." Geens said RTBF is supported both by government funds and by private advertisers.

"We regret the timing of the show, on the eve of the visit, and have done everything we can to make the visit here a success," he said.

The airing of the show has only added to the overriding sentiment in top foreign policy circles in Jerusalem that the EU in general, and Belgium in particular, are biased toward the Palestinians, and as a result cannot play a more central role in the diplomatic process.

Reports that the EU, at the semi-annual association meeting with Israel this week, may recommend lifting the duty-free status on Israeli products made beyond the Green Line, including eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, has only increased this sentiment.

The delegation, which in addition to Verhofstadt, also includes Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, EU Commission head Romano Prodi, and senior EU foreign relations official Javier Solana, arrived in the area yesterday from Egypt and met with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.

The delegation is to meet today with Sharon, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, President Moshe Katsav, Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg, and a "peace coalition" made up of - among others - Yossi Beilin and Yossi Sarid. Belgium will hold the rotating EU presidency until the end of the year.

One senior diplomatic source said that, although "we always welcome the Europeans, we maintain that if they are to play a constructive role as honest broker, they will have to show a more balanced approach toward Israel."

The source said that Israel has strong and friendly ties with the EU. But, he said, "when it comes to security issues and political negotiations, there is much to be desired in the EU´s polices and attitudes."

Asked for a specific example, the source pointed to the support the EU provides the Palestinian educational system, which continues to incite against Israel.

"If the EU has the leverage it says it has with the Palestinians, it should be used in positive ways, such as holding them accountable for the incitement in the schools and in the media. Once they do that, and display a more balanced policy in the conflict, we can more favorably consider their various diplomatic suggestions," he said.

Jerusalem is bracing for what it expects will be an EU request to immediately resume negotiations with the Palestinians, disregarding the seven days of quiet that are supposed to precede moving into the Tenet and Mitchell frameworks.

"Any attempt to change the rules of the game now will not bring Arafat around to stop violence, but will have the opposite effect - convince him that he can keep the violence at ´manageable´ levels and continue to get concessions," the official said.

In a related development, Sharon is not expected to join what will likely be criticism at the cabinet meeting this morning of Peres´s UN speech, where he said there is support in Israel for a Palestinian state, even though this is "not yet" government policy.

One government source said the prime minister and the foreign minister have "coordinated their actions," and the speech was not a violation of the unity government´s guidelines or understandings. (© 1995-2001, The Jerusalem Post 11/18/01)