The Czech EU presidency is not happy with some Israeli policies and an EU-Israel summit is unlikely to take place in the next three months, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said on Tuesday.

"We are not happy with some of the steps of the Israeli government, namely construction works close to Jerusalem but also access to Gaza, which is today very limited," daily Lidove Noviny quoted Schwarzenberg as saying. "The new Israeli government has not raised much excitement either."

Schwarzenberg said it was unlikely that the Czech presidency would hold an EU-Israel summit as earlier planned.

Senior EU officials have sent messages to Benjamin Netanyahu making it clear that a refusal to adopt the "two-state solution" means freezing any upgrade in relations between Israel and Europe.

International trepidation over the incoming government's righward orientation prompted President Shimom Peres to launch a campaign a few days ago whose aim is to convince the world that the "Netanyahu-Lieberman-Barak" government will advance the peace process with the Palestinians.

In a phone call late last week to mark the 30th anniversary of Israeli-Egyptian peace, Peres told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that the agreements signed by Israel contain an obligation to promote a regional peace agreement as well as separate agreements with each of Israel's neighbors. "In addition," Peres said, "the new government will be obligated to honor all of the international agreements that have been signed." Sources close to Peres said yesterday that the president has transmitted similar messages in his talks with foreign leaders, which are expected to continue through Wednesday, when the new government is to be sworn in.

Peres made an official visit to Prague on Monday, where he met with the president, prime minister and foreign minister of the Czech Republic. The Czechs are the current president of the European Union, and according to sources in the President's Residence in Jerusalem, Peres intends to take advantage of his visit to present the coalition agreements to his hosts and to stress the new government's commitment to the peace process.

"It will be one of the main topics of the visit," the source said. In addition, immediately after the swearing-in ceremony for Netanyahu on Wednesday, Peres will launch a media blitz of interviews to the foreign press to explain the policies of the new government.

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