European Union pressure on Israel will not help peace talks; Sanctions on Israeli commerce sets-back employment for Palestinians

European Parliament, Strasbourg, France

Misguided E.U. editorial in The Jerusalem Post 19 July 2013

What could the European Union have been thinking when it decided to issue guidelines that, if implemented, would halt all its grants, prizes and “financial instruments” for research and development centers, hi-tech companies, academic institutions and other firms and institutions located beyond the 1949 Armistice line? Though it tried to present the move as nothing more than “putting the rules of the game in writing,” as one EU official put it, the EU must have known the ramifications of putting into practice positions out of touch with the realities on the ground. 

Why do the Europeans believe that Israel should be punished with a boycott for holding on to, and maintaining order in, territories that fell into Israeli hands when it defended itself against an offensive by the combined armies of Jordan, Egypt and Syria? The situation is not very different on the West Bank. 

To whom, conceivably, is Israel expected to “return” the West Bank? The Palestinian leadership is split between Hamas, which aspires to destroy Israel, even within pre-1967 lines, and the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority, which lacks democratic legitimacy (presidential elections were due to take place in 2009), refuses to enter into direct negotiations without preconditions, and continues to see cities inside the Green Line such as Jaffa and Acre as integral parts of a future Palestinian state. 

The Palestinians bear heavy responsibility for the stalemate in negotiations toward a two-state solution. And judging from the PA’s treatment of Palestinian journalists, its violent stifling of dissent and its corruption, it is doubtful a Palestinian state would protect basic human rights. At the very least, the EU should refrain from unilateral moves directed at either of the sides in the conflict, out of recognition of the complexity of the issues.

Samarian resident, Mr. Israel Dansinger, who protects Jewish-safety through Guardians of Judea, Samaria (Yesha) and Gaza, explains to JooTube how western boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (B.D.S.) don't have their desired impact on Judean and Samarian policies - and ultimately backfire - reducing jobs for local Arab and migrant Palestinian workers.

Despite a renewed willingness on the parts of both Israel and the Palestinians to sit down and talk, coupled with enthusiastic support from the Arab League, EU pressure on Israel will not help peace talks.

We appreciate that politicians in many European states are under pressure from a rapidly growing and increasingly assertive and radicalized Muslim population and other anti-Zionist groups to take a stronger stand against Israel. But if Palestinian intransigence is rewarded with more European pressure on Israel, this will encourage yet more intransigence. Why enter into negotiations and make painful concessions as long as international pressure remains focused solely on Israel?

President Shimon Peres, an old hand at peace negotiations, is acutely aware of the potentially counterproductive nature of the EU sanctions. “Don’t put in place irresponsible sanctions which will damage the peace process,” he warned the EU. “The issues are complex and sensitive: Delay your decision. Make peace the priority and give it a chance, your decision could lead to another crisis in our region.”

Noble, Muslim student shocks U.N. Human Rights Council for stoking anti-Semitism with its anti-Israel obsession

British Muslim university student, Amran Hussain, represented the European Union of Jewish Students in contending the U.N. Human Rights Council's biased resolutions as stoking global anti-Semitism.

Watch video from United Nations Webcast www.un.org/webcast

Will Moscow arm Iran more because of US interceptor missiles in Poland or Israel having armed Georgia?

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is shown an Israeli Aircraft Industries pilotless drone during his visit to their factories in Lod, Israel  (Photo: Time Magazine / Israel Aircraft Industries / Getty)
 
Tony Karon and (from Jerusalem) Aaron Klein's article "What Israel Lost" published in Time Magazine:

The Russians were piqued by Israel's military trade with Georgia even before the latest outbreak of hostilities — Moscow expressed its annoyance over the pilotless drones supplied by an Israeli company to the Georgians, three of which were downed by Russian aircraft over South Ossetia in recent months. Obviously mindful of the need to avoid provoking Russia, Israel declared off-limits certain weapons systems the Georgians had asked for, such as Merkava tanks and advanced anti-aircraft systems. "We have turned down many requests involving arms sales to Georgia, and the ones that have been approved have been duly scrutinized," a Defense Ministry official told the Israeli daily Yediot Ahoronot amid concerns raised over possible fallout from the Israeli ties to the Georgian military. The extent of damage in the Israeli-Russia relationship — if, indeed there is any — remains to be seen. Despite General Nogovitsyn's comments, Israeli officials say they have received no formal complaints from Russia over ties with Georgia.

Israel's strategic priority, right now, is countering the threat it sees in Iran's nuclear program, and on that front, Russian cooperation is essential. If the Israelis are to achieve their objective of forcing Iran to end uranium enrichment through diplomatic coercion, they will need Russian support for escalating U.N. sanctions — a course of action for which Russia has thus far shown little enthusiasm. And if Israel were to opt for trying to destroy Tehran's nuclear facilities through a series of air strikes, then the presence of the sophisticated Russian S-300 missile system in Iran would considerably raise the risk to Israeli pilots. Unfortunately for Israel, however, there may be little it can do to shape Moscow's Iran policy for the simple reason that Israel is not a major factor in Russia's strategic outlook. Moscow's actions on Iran are less likely to be determined by Israel supplying a few drones to Georgia than they are to be shaped, for example, by the deployment over extreme Russian objections of U.S. interceptor missiles on Polish soil.