There is a debate within Israel over the broader implications of the cancellation of the local authorities' heads' trip to Holland on Sunday. Some commentators see it as part of a broader anti-Israel trend in Europe, while others view it as an isolated incident.
"You need to look at the context of Israeli-European relations. During the past year, the European Court of Justice in Luxemburg ruled on a seemingly financial issue, which carries long term political and legal implications."
Dr. Pardo referred to a ruling according to which Israeli produce originating from territories beyond the Green Line does not qualify under the criteria set by the trade agreement between Europe and Israel, and therefore cannot be exported tax free. That is to say, anything that is grown beyond the Green Line is not considered as being grown in Israel, and therefore is not included in the agreement.
"This decision critically influences Israel's future conduct in front of the EU," Dr. Pardo noted. "We are witnessing the qualification of a political decision in the legal echelons. As far as the EU is concerned, the ruling forced the 1967 borders on Israel. It is an unprecedented ruling.
"It is clear that as long as there are no significant steps to end the conflict, there will be no upgrade in relations with Europe," he added.
"There is an ideological gap between the two societies. Israel's situation is extremely dire in Europe. It is not considered legitimate as long as it is an occupier. Holland is one of the founders of the EU, and so its decisions accurately reflect the European public's position vis-à-vis what they consider an unjust occupation," he concluded.
In contrast, Dr. Emmanuel Navon, a European Union expert from Tel Aviv University, wished to calm the spirits. "At the moment it is the expression of a single country, and does not reflect the European Union's policy, because the EU has no de-facto stance vis-à-vis foreign and defense policies," he said.
Dr. Navon pointed especially to Eastern Europe, where he said "states hold much more pro-Israeli positions." Navon also named several Western European leaders with a pro-Israeli stance, such as Silvio Berlusconi, Nicolas Sarkozy, David Cameron and Angela Merkel.
"In the past," he noted, "Holland was the most pro-Israeli country within the EU, but its stance does not reflect the rest of the member states."
I would add that since the gentleman pictured at the top of this post recently won 24 seats in the Dutch election, Holland's anti-Israel policies aren't written in stone either.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem
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