Tag Archive for EU

| October 26, 2013
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Deputy FM Elkin: EU ties with Israel will fray if settlements excluded

 

Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin: The EU’s breaking ties with Israel would be a larger mistake for Europe.

By REUTERS
 

 

JERUSALEM – Israel and the European Union will drift apart if they cannot compromise on new EU guidelines covering settlements beyond the Green Line that could damage research and trade ties, Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin told Reuters.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ze'ev Elkin.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin. – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

The two sides must overcome the dispute – focused on territory that Palestinians want for a state – before the end of November, when a multi-million dollar EU research program called Horizon 2020 is due to be finalized.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| October 24, 2013
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PA President asks Western companies to divorce from West Bank settlements

PA President Abbas makes plea to European Council president to stop all projects in Jewish areas in the West Bank.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH, TOVAH LAZAROFF
 

 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday called on European and other Western firms to stop violating international law by working in West Bank settlements.

Abbas meets European Council President Herman Van Rompuy in Brussels, October 23, 2013

Abbas meets European Council President Herman Van Rompuy in Brussels, October 23, 2013 – Photo: REUTERS

Abbas’s call came during a meeting in Brussels with Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council and former Belgian prime minister.

Abbas is currently on a tour of a number of EU countries to urge their governments to activate regulations against settlements and Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| September 28, 2013
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Renegade French Diplomat Recalled After Striking Policeman

 

Recalled to France: Envoy wasn’t being diplomatic when she punched Border Policeman after being pulled from truck delivering U.N. aid.

By REUTERS

 

 

 

Israel and France have averted a diplomatic crisis by agreeing that a French diplomat, who hit an IDF soldier after she was dragged from a vehicle delivering aid to Palestinians, should return to Paris.

Renegade diplomat, Marion Castaing attacks Policeman

The incident in the West Bank one week ago had the potential to escalate, with Israel considering expelling her and aid groups privately pressing Paris and other European countries involved to protest at the treatment of their diplomats.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , , , ,
| September 22, 2013
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EU demands Israel to explain seizure of Palestinian aid & abuse to diplomats

EU diplomats accuse IDF soldiers of manhandling them while attempting to deliver aid to Palestinians.

Foreign Ministry official calls EU’s actions a ‘provocation’, illegal & IDF responded to physical attack.

By and Reuters

 

The EU ambassador in Israel called the Foreign Ministry Deputy Director-General for Europe Rafi Shutz on Saturday, to express concern over an altercation that took place between EU diplomats and Israeli soldiers in the West Bank on Friday.

Khirbet al-Makhul

Israeli soldiers pull a Palestinian off a truck loaded with items European diplomats wanted to deliver to locals in the West Bank herding community of Khirbet al-Makhul, September 20, 2013.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| September 21, 2013
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IDF seizes EU diplomats’ supplies & French diplomat dragged out of truck

IDF reportedly drags French diplomat out of truck then seizes aid supply.

Reporter sees IDF soldiers throw sound grenades at group of EU diplomats, aid workers, & locals in West Bank.

By Reuters

Israeli soldiers seized on Friday a truck full of tents and emergency aid that European diplomats had been trying to deliver to Palestinians whose homes were demolished this week, Reuters reported.

French diplomat dragged out of truck – Photo: Reuters

Soldiers were reportedly throwing sound grenades at a group of diplomats, aid workers and locals in the West Bank, and pulling a French diplomat out of the truck before driving away with its contents. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , , , ,
| September 20, 2013
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Brussels Could Reinstate Kosher Slaughter in Poland

Former Deputy Prime Minister says Poland’s recent ban on kosher slaughter must be rescinded as it is in violation of EU Laws.

By Adam Ross

 

The Polish lawyer representing the European Jewish Association (EJA), says a Polish ban of kosher ritual slaughter is illegal and should be overturned immediately.

Roman Giertuch, who is also a former Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, says the ban was adopted in violation of a European law that requires formal notification of the EU Commission for a legislation that contravenes EU regulations.

Giertych said the Polish law was made on January 1 – before the EU gave member states the right to rule on ritual slaughter independently. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| August 12, 2013
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Egyptian Christian Leader tells the EU & US to back off in ‘Open Letter’

 

 

Western maneuvering to quietly reinstate the Muslim Brotherhood baffles Egypt’s frightened & persecuted Christians.

By Ashraf Ramelah

 

The following is an open letter from Egyptian Christian Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, director of Voice of the Copts, to European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, who, together with leading American officials, has been working to reinstall Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt.

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I have followed with great interest your latest visit to my native country of Egypt — particularly your request to free former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

Sources in Egypt inform me that Egyptians fear that your aim to have Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders released from custody and dismissed from their day in court. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| August 12, 2013
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Minister Livni: The European Union will not dictate Israel’s borders

Israel’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who’s also Israel’s lead negotiator in peace-talks with the PA, said during a meeting with German foreign minister, that any final status agreement relating to Israel’s borders will be determined only through negotiations with the Arabs and not by any EU decision.

By Yori Yalon & Edna Adato

 

 

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who is also Israel’s chief negotiator in talks with the Palestinian Authority, said on Sunday during a meeting in Jerusalem with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle that in any final status agreement pertaining to the country’s borders will be determined only through negotiations by Israel and the Palestinians.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| August 11, 2013
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Is Hezbollah waging terror campaign against UNIFIL over EU blacklist?

EU’s blacklisting of Hezbollah casts a new light on the friction between the UNIFIL and Nasrallah’s armed Shi’ite movement.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
 

 

The European Union’s designation of Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organization has cast a new light on the tussles between the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the armed Shi’ite movement.

Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah

Supporters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah – Photo: Reuters

A Hezbollah official told the Financial Times last week, “People are not going to accept you living among them and calling them terrorists.”

Gerald Steinberg, a professor of political studies at Bar-Ilan University and the head of the Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor, told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday, “The reports of increased friction in southern Lebanon are not surprising after the European Union belatedly added Hezbollah to the list of terror organizations.”

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| August 9, 2013
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Kerry tells US Jewish leaders: Palestinian-Israeli peace a ‘strategic imperative’


U.S. Sec of St. Kerry asks American Jews to endorse negotiations between Israel & the Palestinians.

By

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice briefed Jewish leaders on resumed Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

Kerry and Indyk.

Kerry and Indyk at the State Department in Washington. – Photo: Reuters

The meeting Thursday evening in the White House lasted 90 minutes, participants said, and was characterized mostly by Kerry’s enthusiasm for the resumed talks, and the serious commitment he said saw from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Kerry appeared bullish about talks he has worked assiduously to revive since becoming secretary of state in February, but also nervous about the potential for failure, warning of circumstances – for instance, pressures on Netanyahu – that could undermine the talks. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| August 8, 2013
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Israel Won’t Sign EU Agreements With Bias Settlement Conditions

Jerusalem says that until there’s a clarification in the wording of the EU’s guidelines excluding any part of post-’67 borders, Israel will refuse to sign any agreements.

By JTA

 

 

JERUSALEM — Israel reportedly will not sign any new agreements with the European Union that fall under the body’s new guidelines concerning the ‘occupied territories’, without changes in the wording.

High Representative of the European Union Catherine Ashton – Photo AP

High Representative of the European Union Catherine Ashton – Photo: AP

The decision to ask the EU to reword, or “clarify,” the guidelines was made Thursday at a meeting at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv called by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and attended by government ministers, Haaretz reported.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| August 7, 2013
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Irish EU Parliamentarian Calls for Arab Violence Against Israel

 

Irish EU representative faces criticism after suggesting that PA Arabs should resort to violence by starting a 3rd “Intifada” against Israel.

By Maayana Miskin

 

 

An Irish politician has caused outrage by urging Arabs to “rise up” against Israel in another “Intifada.”

European Union parliamentarian Paul Murphy said he does not believe that Israel is serious about the newly renewed diplomatic talks with the PA, and that what the PA needs is “a mass struggle from below.”

“There are many positive examples from the first intifada of mass protests, strikes and marches and checkpoints that I think would be ideal tactics to redevelop now,” he explained in an interview with Russia Today. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| August 7, 2013
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Israeli scientists & ministers to PM: Don’t cut ties with EU

Academics & Ministers voice concern over Naftali Bennett’s suggestion of ending cooperation with the EU because of their new settlement guidelines.

‘Israel works in the global arena. The problems we are working on are relevant for the entire world. So is our industry, it’s int’l & it’s the engine of our economy.’

By , and

 

 

Israeli scientists warn that cutting ties with the European Union could cause irreparable harm to Israeli research. The researchers were reacting to Economy Ministry Naftali Bennett‘s call for the Israeli government to end all cooperation with the EU in response to new guidelines banning funding to Israeli entities with ties to West Bank settlements, East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , , ,
| July 28, 2013
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Israel terminates support for ongoing & future European Union projects

There are to be no building permits for EU projects, existing permits won’t be renewed and all working meetings between the IDF, the gov’t & EU representatives have been canceled.

By Tommy Mueller

 

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has instructed the army and the authorities in Judea and Samaria (the so-called “West Bank”) to no longer support European Union (EU) projects there.

Israel halts support for European Union projects

Israel halts support for European Union projects – Israel Today

 

In the fully-Israeli-controlled parts of the West Bank, termed Area C, there are to be no new building permits for EU projects, and existing permits will not be renewed. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| July 28, 2013
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EU ban on Hezbollah a nice start, but impact will be minimal

NEWS ANALYSIS: The new regulations are declaratory and will likely have very little effect on the ground. Hezbollah will just say, “Don’t worry, these men are from the political arm.”

 

By Cnaan Liphshiz
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (JTA) — The effectiveness of the European Union’s decision to blacklist only Hezbollah’s military wing might be debatable, but one thing about the move seems certain: It did not come easy.

The decision Monday by Europe’s 28 foreign ministers to put Hezbollah’s military wing on the EU list of terrorist organizations followed months of jostling by member states in the wake of last summer’s killing of five Israelis and a Bulgarian in a bus bombing near the Black Sea resort of Burgas.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
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