By Yair Rosenberg, TABLET, |July 16, 2013
The European Union has issued new guidelines for its cooperation with Israel which explicitly curtail its involvement in the Occupied Territories. Naturally, this has sparked a diplomatic firestorm. Prime Minister Netanyahu immediately condemned the regulations, which are set to be included in the 2014-2020 EU financial framework, saying “we will not accept any external dictates regarding our borders. That issue will be decided only in direct negotiations between the sides.”
So, just how earth-shattering are these guidelines? Tablet has acquired the official document containing the regulations, published today by the European Union, and we’ve spoken to an EU diplomat with close knowledge of its contents and drafting. As it turns out, there’s a lot less in these guidelines than most press coverage would have you believe. Here’s why:
-
They do not bind EU member states in their bilateral relationships with Israel.
The new regulations only apply to the institutions of the European Union itself. They do not restrict its member states in their bilateral ties with Israel, whether economic, cultural or diplomatic. “Member states don’t have to abide by this,” the EU diplomat explained. “It applies to EU-funded programs, and to EU programs as such. It doesn’t apply to national programs. So concretely, if France wants to fund the Ariel college, it can do it, and it’s not violating any European law.” In EU parlance, this is what is known as a “commission notice” or “soft law,” as opposed to a “directive,” which has to be translated into national law by all EU members. (Haaretz erroneously used the language of “binding directive” in its original report, fueling much consternation and mistaken reporting in and out of Israel.) As for the EU’s own funding: European officials estimate that less than 1 percent of it currently goes to “settlement entities,” far from a substantial loss.
The guidelines do not affect trade.
In addition to not impacting Israel’s bilateral relationships with EU members, the new guidelines do not address trade, i.e. products originating in the settlements. The rules are a far cry from the platform of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks an end to all commerce and other contact with Israel in toto, and don’t even approach the West Bank boycott advocated by some liberal Zionists like Peter Beinart. Rather, in their own words, the guidelines only prohibit “EU support in the form of grants, prizes or financial instruments” from being given to companies or organizations with activities in the West Bank, East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights. (Individuals living in those areas, however, are exempt.)
The regulations may affect the language of future EU-Israel trade agreements–again, not bilateral ones with EU members–though how this would play out in practice is unclear, and Israel has already signed accords with the EU in the past that explicitly excluded the settlements for certain purposes.
The regulations do not apply to Israeli governmental institutions, regardless of their location.
The new rules explicitly exempt all Israeli national authorities, like ministries and government agencies, even if they are based in the Occupied Territories. For example, “the Israeli Authority for Antiquities, which is based in East Jerusalem, are not affected by this commission notice,” said the EU diplomat.
The move is not, as some have suggested, a hardball attempt to assist John Kerry in restarting negotiations.
The reason these guidelines were issued now is simple: “The budget of the EU is based on a six-year program, so the next budget will be 2014 to 2020,” explained the diplomat. “So they wanted to have this commission notice included now, in this budget.” In others words, these updates to the EU’s settlement guidelines–which have been in the works for some time–had to be issued at this juncture due to the EU’s financial cycle, regardless of whether Secretary of State John Kerry was in the region attempting to restart peace talks.
The EU’s move is, according to the diplomat, simply an attempt to bring its own institutions formally in line with its long-stated policy position that the Occupied Territories are not part of Israel. (This is why the guidelines bar EU involvement in the Golan Heights, a territory that is claimed by Syria, not the Palestinians, and has little relevance to the peace process.) Thus, claims that the guidelines are part of an EU strategy to ratchet up pressure on Israel in advance of Kerry’s efforts–pressure which would increase should those efforts fail–insinuate a conspiracy where none is evident.
They do not take effect until 2014.
Contrary to Haaretz‘s reporting that the new guidelines “will go into effect by the end of this week,” they are only being published this week. Rather, as previously noted, the regulations are part of the next EU financial framework for 2014-2020, which takes effect on January 1, 2014. Whatever consequences these rules may have, they will not be sprung on Israel overnight and there will be time for Israel to explore options for working within (or around) them.
***
Bottom line: these regulations hardly seem the diplomatic “earthquake” some have called them, let alone “economic terrorism,” as Naftali Bennett has dubbed them. Rather, they are a largely symbolic shot across the bow, making explicit what was already the EU’s unwritten policy, and reflecting growing frustration within Europe at Israel’s settlement practices. Whether the EU or its members are willing to go farther than these limited restrictions, should Israeli policy continue and the peace process remain moribund, remains to be seen.
THE GUIDELINES THEMSELVES MAY BE FOUND HERE
What is this new geographic term “East Jerusalem”? That should be corrected EVERY Time it is applied. You use a term like that over and over , then it becomes acceptable as part of your perception, even though it shouldn’t be. Learn to say something like “a neighborhood in Jerusalem” or at worst “a part of Jerusalem east of (fill in) Street.” Do not divide the integrity of the whole City even unwittingly in your words.
We have had a large contingent of internal enemies and apologists if not outright partners with the EU and Islamic Nazi and Jihad forces.
Rosenberg is a run of the mill part of that school.
Only a stern clean up of that aggregate may save our lives if done soon and w/o considerations.
@ nfarbstein:
What I meant to say is that German and Austrian Jews tended to be very assimilated. For example, the Reform movement started in Germany, and Classical Reform Judaism regarded the Jewish people as a religious confession not a nation (they were Germans of the Jewish Faith), they weren’t to aspire to build a Nation-State in Palestine, they were to live as Good Germans in Germany, Austrians in Austria, etc. They even called their synagogues Temples to show they had no yearning to build any Temple in Jerusalem. This ethos is evident also in the philosophy of Martin Buber and the so-called German intellectuals in Palestine who wanted the Jews to live as a tolerated minority in an Arab State (see The Jewish State: The Struggle for Israel’s Soul by Yoram Hazony). Arthur Hays Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times from 1935 to 1961 (whose wife was the granddaughter of the Classical Prominent Reform Rabbi Isaac Meir Wise – who adhered to the Classical Reform Jewish doctrine) also opposed Zionism for this very reason (see -Buried by the Times: The Holocaust and America’s Most Important Newspaper by Laurel Leff).
So what I’m saying is that there is anti-Zionist, Euro-phillic tendency in Jews of German and/or Austrian origin.
It is a “historical irony” that the two countries (GermanyAustria) in which the native Jews tried so much to assimilate were the eye of the Holocaust tempest.
Robert K. I have a German last name (Biblical first name), but contrary to your above statement, I am a staunch and fervent Zionist willing to defend Israel and our G-d given, historical and legal right to all the land (from Sinai to the Euphrates).
That said, what Yair Rosenberg either intentionally ignores or is not able to comprehend is that irrespective of its enforceability, the negative publicity from this EU Commission Notice (“Law”) will provide ammunition to the anti-Israel neo-fascist hypocrytes, Arabs and Jew-haters conveniently who ignore the bloodbaths in Syria, Iran, Lebanon and Egypt, and the lack of human rights and freedoms accross the Arab Ouma, and who seek to deligitimize the state of Israel.
More so, its clear that the intent of the EU was to inflict harm on Israel as this directive deviates significantly from all previous EU Guidlines on this topic, including those as recent as May 10, 2012, which called only for West Bank product labelling.
As such, Israel should adopt the Levy report and unleash a construction boom, including new settlements, and legailization all outposts, remove from the peace process any EU state that refuses to sign a declaration of Israel’s right to E. Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the Golan, and block funding to all EU funded NGO’s.
It may seem prejudicial but you can tell by the surname of the writer or publisher of the newspaper what his/her attitude is to the EU, Yesha, Zionism, the Two State Solution. If it points to a German or Austrian origin they will be either/or Europhiles, Post-Zionists, and Two-State Solutionists. Examples: Yair Rosenberg – author of this article, Yariv Oppenheimer – Peace Now Head, The Schocken Family (Germany)- Publisher’s of Haaretz. These follow the traditions of their Brit Shalom antecedents Martin Buber(born in
Vienna, Austria-Hungary), Samuel (Schmuel) Hugo Bergmann, (born in Austria-Hungary)- dean of the Hebrew University Co-Founder of Brit Shalom,etc.
I call it creeping libelism whereby the perennial jew swindlers keep ratcheting up their attacks and libels on the jews. This author is an apologist for the european libels saying its not that bad. this is what got us here, allowing the despicable European filth to peddle their perverted wares without objection. It is time that the despicable EU was confronted with derision but most importantly action. Stop all EU projects in YS as this will be the best demonstration of the contempt which the trash deserve. They are bent on continuing their dirty habitual behavior. I disagree strongly with down playing their behavior because it is an attemmpt at covering up their jew hating motivation. There should be an end to accepting the euro behavior. Throw out the garbage from Israel.
The Europeans hate Israel and their anger at Israel has nothing to do with Israeli settlement practices.
How come a de facto Israeli government ban on building new Jewish towns and villages in Judea and Samaria since 1993 hasn’t mollified in the least European angst at Israel?
Yair Rosenberg in his pathetic whitewash of EU policies towards Israel doesn’t even bother to explain why Europeans are so upset at JEWS living in Judea and Samaria. After all, no one pretends the EU directive is addressed towards the Arabs.