EU Rep: Demands on Judea and Samaria 'in Israel's interest'

Jerusalem, 8 December, 2016 (TPS) -- Ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen, Head of Delegation of the European Union to the State of Israel acknowledged that it is difficult in “Palestine” today to find partners to move forward with Israel for a long-term peace agreement, but he added a call to Israel to halt building for Jews in Judea and Samaria in hopes of preserving hopes for creating a Palestinian state in the future.

Speaking at a conference entitled EU-Israel Relations: A Path to a ‘Special Privileged Partner’ at the Interdiciplinary Centrer in Herzliya, Faaborg-Andersen defended a push in Europe prevent Jewish businesses in Judea and Samaria to mark their products “Made in Israel,” saying that European agreements with Israel are limited to the State of Israel within the 1967 lines.

“We doing it in Israel’s own interest,” Faaborg-Andersen said. “Israel must deal with this problem. We don’t want to see Israel undermine possibility of two-state solution by building more settlements, not allowing development of Area C.”

Politics aside, however, the ambassador also noted that EU’s ties with Israel today are more extensive than with any other country in the world. He noted that Europe-Israel trade stands at approximately €30 billion per annum, spanning the technology, cyber and national security sectors, as well as the fact that Israel has been a central partner in the Horizon 2020 research and development program with the European Union since 1996.

Eight years later, EU foreign ministers drafted plans to create Special Privileged Partnership with Israel in 2004, but also linked development of the upgraded relationship to progress on the Israel-Palestinian peace process.

Responding to Faaborg-Anderson, Shmuel (Sammy) Revel, Head of the European Division at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noted the historic difficulties related to Israel’s relationship with Europe, but also noted the joint interests and values between Israel and Europe, including strong cultural ties, democracy, the rule of law and more.

But he also said that linkage of cultural, economic and development ties to the Palestinian issue is bad for both Israelis and Palestinians.

“Since Europe linked these two issues, there has been a 14 percent drop in the number of Israelis who maintain a positive image of Europe,” Revel said. “This is largely due to linkage.

“It’s also bad for Palestinians, because they understand that ‘once Israel signs treaty with us – they will get this great relationship with Europe. [By refusing to sign  peace deal] we can prevent Israel from advancing.”