‘There Is Pressure in Europe to Be Less Forgiving Toward Israel’: EU Braces for Face-off With Israel’s Far-right Gov’t

European Union flags waving next to the Council of the European Union Building in Brussels.Credit: Dreamstime

Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government has yet to be sworn in, but there are already signs of conflict with the European Union. MEP Evin Incir of Sweden expressed opposition to the advancement of an intelligence-sharing agreement between the Israel Police and Europol organization, citing the composition of Israel’s future government. She says Israel’s police must not be allowed to use intelligence from Europe in the territories.

“As a social democrat, I saw the election results and the fact that an extreme right-wing government will be established, to include politicians like Itamar Ben-Gvir,” Incir told Haaretz, adding: “It seems that he will be the minister in charge of the police, which is part of the defense establishment. The fact that a far-right politician will have access to the important information provided by Europol is very dangerous.”

The European Parliament is supposed to vote on the agreement’s ratification, but on Friday the EU informed Israel’s ambassador to the EU and to NATO, Haim Regev, that it is reopening its articles and has no plans to resume its advancement at this time.

Other measures put forward by the outgoing government in Jerusalem are also in danger of relegation to the deep freeze: The Creative Europe agreement, which was supposed to direct immense budgets to Israeli cultural institutions, was approved by the outgoing government and then suspended due to a veto by Alternate PM Naftali Bennett. Estimates in Jerusalem are that this significant agreement will not be advanced further due to opposition by the parties of the forming coalition to the article prohibiting the investment of the funds in the settlements. Concurrently, diplomatic sources also estimate that Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s flagship project, resuming the annual dialogue between the Israeli foreign minister and their European colleagues, blocked for years under Netanyahu, will be halted once again due to the disputes between the parties.

Netanyahu has never made a secret of his criticism of the EU and its policy toward Israel. “Netanyahu treats the Union like an enemy endangering Israel,” said to Haaretz a source closely familiar with his conduct. Netanyahu himself said in 2017, in a closed conversation broadcast online by mistake to reporters, that the Union’s conduct toward Israel is ‘insane.’ “The European Union is the only international organization that conditions relations with Israel, which gives it technology, on political considerations,” Netanyahu said at the time.

A diplomat who spoke to Haaretz on the condition of anonymity said, “Netanyahu doesn’t respect the European Commission or the Union’s mechanisms. He knows these mechanisms have no real political backing from the senior leadership of these countries. He knows that when he cuts off relations with institutions in Brussels, it won’t harm his relations with Macron in France, with Scholz in Germany or with the prime minister of Italy. He has yet to pay any price for it in European capitals. Nobody cared about the Union.”

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Incir rejects this criticism. “The Union is a friend of Israel’s just as is it is a friend of Palestine’s and of the two-state solution. It is important to keep clarifying that. Anything else is untrue. We will continue to hold close relations with Israel and Palestine.” But she says that she is pessimistic regarding the possibility of maintaining such cooperation with the future right-wing government. “I would prefer a center-left government to take the leadership and promote a two-state solution. But unfortunately I don’t expect an extreme right-wing government to improve the situation.”

Israeli settler protest in the West Bank this July.Credit: Ohad Zwigenberg

Israeli diplomats who spoke with Haaretz said they believe European Parliament members are already preparing for the change in power. “There is pressure in Europe to be less forgiving toward Israel now that the government is changing,” a source familiar with the bilateral relations told Haaretz. Officials in Jerusalem believe the EU is looking for means to pressure Israel in order to help the organization to stay relevant in the struggle against a radicalized Israeli policy in the territories.

Incir believes the EU will be forced to impose sanctions on Israel should the government persist in establishing new settlements and demolishing EU-funded Palestinian infrastructure. “For years I’ve been calling for sanctions regarding the destruction of EU-funded projects. Unfortunately, not enough steps were taken,” she said.

Incir believes the EU can impose a variety of sanctions on Israel if necessary. “There are some clear things that can be done: One is to apply the ruling by the EU court requiring products made in settlements to be labeled as such. Another is to guarantee compensation for every destruction or confiscation of Palestinian structures by Israel. If you destroy something, you should compensate for it. These are our taxpayer funds that we invest in development.”

Officials in Jerusalem say the EU will also likely try to leverage agreements yet to be fully ratified, chief among them the Europol and Creative agreements, and use their advancement as a means to apply pressure on the government in case of disputes regarding its conduct in the territories. But as stated above, it is doubtful whether the future coalition will be interested in adopting these agreements anyway, due to the article exempting the settlements from them. Among the diplomatic echelon’s nightmare scenarios, in case of a dramatic decline in relations with Europe, are the possibility that settlers will be required to receive visas to travel to Europe, or efforts to divert European businesspeople from investing in Israel.

But according to an Israeli diplomat, “The chances of seeing such dramatic sanctions is miniscule. It is doubtful whether the EU can muster the consent of its member countries to such steps, and in any event it doesn’t take such harsh steps even regarding worse crises. Netanyahu knows Europe’s red lines well. He is an experienced and cautious leader, and it’s likely that he won’t reach such a clash.”

The European Union said in response: “We are following the democratic process in Israel, and look forward to tight cooperation with the new Israeli government. The European Union will continue to support the positive trend in relations and dialogue with Israel, regardless of the identity of the Prime Minister and the coalition. We share with Israel the values of an open, democratic society, based on the rule of law. These values should continue to stand at the foundation of our relations. In our dealings with the new government, we will continue to ensure a sustainable peace based on the two-state solution, and spur Israel to act to that end.”