For a few months now, the tension between EU and Israel has been exposed in broad daylight.
The latest example is the harsh exchange, in early July, between High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Israel's Minister for Public Security and Foreign Affairs Gilad Erdan. With the Israeli administration accusing the EU in a report of having provided around €5 million in finance for a dozen or so NGOs accused of calling a boycott for of Israel and supporting terrorism, Mogherini replied in a letter to Erdan, in terms not often used, that the accusations were "vague and unfounded serving only to feed disinformation campaigns", according to French newspaper Le Monde.
Alongside this, the EU ambassador to Israel, Emanuele Giaufret, was summoned to Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry for "interference", after he openly criticised the Israeli law declaring Israel to be the nation state of the Jewish people (see EUROPE 12066).
But these events just seem to be the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, while some diplomats deem relations to be much better in substance than in terms of communication, they are nevertheless complicated. "The political relations between the EU and Israel are (...) more complex (Ed: than trade and sectoral relations), but still marked by a frank and cordial dialogue", an EU spokesperson told EUROPE. The Israeli mission to the EU meanwhile has not responded to EUROPE's request for an interview.
"There is fog in the relations with Israel (...) Diplomacy and international relations are not child's play", Marc Otte, from the Egmont think tank and the EU's special representative for the Middle East peace process from 2003 to 2011, told EUROPE. "Tension is mounting because the balance of power is changing and so everything that was the EU's policy on Israel is challenged with what is going on on the ground", he said. In Otte's view, the situation has been made worse by the transatlantic tension, especially following the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem.
But the relations between the EU and Israel are also marked by a sense of common interest, notably economic and scientific. "Israel is a stable and solid country in a troubled region", Otte states. "The relations have several main lines. Historically and culturally, the partnership with Israel is very close. Economic and scientific cooperation is rich. And it has been like this for many years", he says. Otte also highlights Israel's participation in the Horizon 2020 programme, and the country's cooperation in the fight against terrorism, including cyberthreats.
The EU is also Israel's top trading partner, accounting for 39% of all the country's foreign trade in 2017 (or €34.7 billion) compared with 24.3% for the USA. According to one source, the Israelis believe that Europeans politicise their economic relations, unlike their other economic partners such as China or the USA.
Europeans' internal division
But beyond the difficult relations with Israel, it is the divergences between the EU member states as regards the Middle East which pose a challenge, make any consensus on the issue difficult and weaken the EU's position. "The EU's foreign policy is a common policy (and) if the member states can't manage to agree...", Otte says. "The EU has weight – the question is being able to use it", he states, adding that "all powerful countries have political and economic means. Consensus needs to be reached on whether or not to use them".
While many MEPs are pushing for the association agreement to be suspended under its Article 2 on respect for fundamental rights, there is no consensus on this subject between the member states. "The EU has not carried out and does not plan a review of the association agreement with Israel", the EU spokesperson says, adding that suspension of the agreement would have to be decided by the Council on a proposal from the Commission or High Representative.
According to Otte, while suspending such an agreement could constitute a means of pressure, "what would be the point?" He believes the EU's greatest means of pressure would be to suspend aid to the Palestinians and to pass the bill for it to the Israelis.
Similarly, the opinions of the member states diverge on the convening of an Association Council between the EU and Israel. The last one dates back to 2012. In early 2017, the holding of an Association Council was announced, then postponed indefinitely (see EUROPE 11720). The 28 EU member states cannot reach agreement on the convening of such a council. Some member states highlight their good bilateral relations with Israel and the need to hold talks with it (see EUROPE 12064). For others, on the other hand, the lack of progress in the Middle East peace process remains an obstacle to bilateral cooperation. They do not consider that the sequence of events – especially the stepping up of Israel's settlement policy – is appropriate for such a meeting. According to several sources, some member states would like the meeting to be accompanied by conditions, such as signs from Israel to the Palestinian Authority or progress towards an association agreement with the Palestinian Authority, but this is inconceivable for other member states.
"Convening an Association Council makes sense depending on the objectives we want to obtain", Otte says, adding that the discussions between the member states are currently more chats than real discussions.
Worsening of tension
According to Otte, the divisions between member states "have become worse in recent years". While France, Ireland and Sweden are often considered as more pro-Palestinian states, Germany and Hungary are seen as closer to Israel. "Certain irritations on the delay in the Palestinian reconciliation and the Middle East situation in general have widened the gap between the positions of the member states", Otte says. The relations between Israel and some EU countries are also often based on a certain form of European guilt, linked to the holocaust, and some member states are cautious when it comes to criticising Israel.
According to one European source, the division is not so much on the peace process but is more linked to the relationship that each member state has with the USA. "It is not so much on the substance as on the extent of alignment of the different countries with the USA", the source says. According to this source, the nuances in the relations with the USA explain why the discussions are very complex. For example, while, according to the EU spokesperson, the EU has a "clear and united" position on the status of Jerusalem (the capital of both the state of Israel and the state of Palestine as part of the two-state solution), the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary blocked a common declaration of the EU 28, in May, criticising the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (see EUROPE 12019). On the ground, representatives from these three countries and Austria reportedly took part in a ceremony linked to this transfer.
And Israel plays on the divisions of the Europeans, notably showing great liking for these countries, according to Otte. In Otte's view, the Israeli government's reception of the Polish and Hungarian prime ministers with great pomp was a way of saying: "sorry for the divisions, we are exposing them in broad daylight".
However, even if there are many divergences, the member states seems to be staying on the same lines concerning the basic principles of the peace process and the need to resume the talks for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "The EU has a common position on the issue of the peace process. It remains firmly attached to the two-state solution, with Jerusalem as the capital of both the state of Israel and of the future state of Palestine", the EU spokesperson says. Before stating, moreover, that "the credibility of the EU as regards the peace process in the Middle East is and will remain strong, in connection with all the interlocutors on the ground, including both parties".
The EU28 have furthermore agreed on the nomination of a new EU special representative for the Middle East peace process, who, however, will be based in Brussels, unlike his predecessor, Fernando Gentilini, who was on the ground. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)