Israel angry at EU funding ban
16/07/2013 - 7:12pm
Israel reacted angrily to EU plans to ban financial assistance to organisations operating in the occupied terrorists.
On July 16 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country"will not accept any external edicts" about its borders and accused the 28-nation bloc of meddling in bilateral relations with the Palestinians.
Guidelines adopted by the Commission in late June and expected to be published this week make clear that, from next year, Israeli "entities" operating in the West Bank and East Jerusalem will not be eligible for EU grants, prizes or loans.
The measure, which underlines EU opposition to Israeli settlement-building, will apply to Israeli companies, universities or other bodies operating in areas occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East War, including the Golan Heights, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
"The EU has made it clear that it will not recognize any changes to pre-1967 borders, other than those agreed by the parties to the Middle East Peace Process," a copy of the guidelines seen by news agency Reuters said.
The decision could make it politically difficult for the Jewish state's pro-settlement government, which has called those narrow boundaries indefensible, to sign accords with the 28-nation EU.
Palestinians praised the rule as a concrete step against settlement construction they fear will deny them a viable state.
Sandra de Waele, the EU delegation to Israel's head of political affairs, said on Israel Radio the guidelines codified EU policy that "agreements and financial instruments that benefit Israel" should not apply to activities or entities in territory it captured in the 1967 war.
The EU decision was an expression of "frustration with continued settlement expansion", she added.
The guidelines are in line with a call by the European Council of Foreign Ministers in December 2012 for all agreements between Israel and the EU to "unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967."
Some 500,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank and East Jerusalem among about 2.5 million Palestinians. Palestinians seek a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel signaled its concern that Palestinians would now feel emboldened to stick to their demand that settlement construction be frozen before any resumption of peace talks that collapsed over the issue in 2010.
On July 16 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country"will not accept any external edicts" about its borders and accused the 28-nation bloc of meddling in bilateral relations with the Palestinians.
Guidelines adopted by the Commission in late June and expected to be published this week make clear that, from next year, Israeli "entities" operating in the West Bank and East Jerusalem will not be eligible for EU grants, prizes or loans.
The measure, which underlines EU opposition to Israeli settlement-building, will apply to Israeli companies, universities or other bodies operating in areas occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East War, including the Golan Heights, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
"The EU has made it clear that it will not recognize any changes to pre-1967 borders, other than those agreed by the parties to the Middle East Peace Process," a copy of the guidelines seen by news agency Reuters said.
The decision could make it politically difficult for the Jewish state's pro-settlement government, which has called those narrow boundaries indefensible, to sign accords with the 28-nation EU.
Palestinians praised the rule as a concrete step against settlement construction they fear will deny them a viable state.
Sandra de Waele, the EU delegation to Israel's head of political affairs, said on Israel Radio the guidelines codified EU policy that "agreements and financial instruments that benefit Israel" should not apply to activities or entities in territory it captured in the 1967 war.
The EU decision was an expression of "frustration with continued settlement expansion", she added.
The guidelines are in line with a call by the European Council of Foreign Ministers in December 2012 for all agreements between Israel and the EU to "unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967."
Some 500,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank and East Jerusalem among about 2.5 million Palestinians. Palestinians seek a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel signaled its concern that Palestinians would now feel emboldened to stick to their demand that settlement construction be frozen before any resumption of peace talks that collapsed over the issue in 2010.
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