The Day Europe Got Israel’s Attention

[Purveyor]

Responding to the EU’s decision to limit all joint projects at the Green Line, Prime Minister Netanyahu displayed a confrontational attitude, vowing not to let anyone ‘harm’ the settlers.

By Noam Sheizaf |Published July 16, 2013

The European Union’s decision to limit all joint projects with Israel beyond the pre-1967 borders accomplished what all of President Obama’s speeches and Secretary of State Kerry’s diplomatic missions have failed to – it put the occupation back as the top story on the Israeli agenda.

The new European guidelines – UPDATE: the exact term is Commission Notice – which were revealed by Haaretz’s Barak Ravid this morning, will demand that any agreement with an Israeli institution include an article limiting activities beyond the pre-1967 borders. The guidelines allow European involvement with Israeli institutions which are based beyond the Green Line – as the Justice Department is, for example – as long as the joint activity doesn’t take place in occupied territory. In accordance with the international community’s longstanding position, the guidelines don’t recognize the Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem and the surrounding territories, or the Golan Heights.

The non-binding guidelines were delivered to all 28 EU member states on June 30 and they are due to come into effect this Friday in 2014.

UPDATE: The Commission Notice doesn’t mention agreements but rather applies to “EU grants, prizes and programs”. Ariel University, for example, cannot benefit from a European grant, but if a member-state chose to fund it, it can go on doing so.

Unlike previous warnings and condemnations of settlement construction, which Israelis seem to have gotten used to, this step caught the Israeli public, media and government by surprise (at least part of the reason is that the Foreign Ministry is on strike and the foreign minister position is vacant pending the conclusion of Avigdor Liberman’s trial). All media outlets were quick to post follow-ups to Haaretz‘s story this morning. UPDATE: According to a European source, Israel was informed of the process during all its stages.

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http://972mag.com/the-day-europe-got-israels-attention/75864/

[oberliner]

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[delrem]

2. This is way beyond tiresome, oberliner.

Of course People who oppose your views have sources for fact and opinion that publish material that you take issue with.
Every time you post responses like this, mocking the source as being not to your taste, you slap your own face.