With the German government adamantly against (despite popular feeling – posting this page) and possibly France, Spain and the UK for UN recognition of Palestinian statehood, the EU will have to find a way to restart negotiations or accept loss of influence. Articles from NY Times and Haaretz

Only the EU remains undecided – waiting for the final resolution – over how to vote at the UN. David Cameron will follow His Master’s Voice , Israel is resigned to losing the General Assembly vote and the PA is still considering tactics. Four reports from Al Jazeera, Palestine Chronicle and Ma’an News

Spain hopes to lead EU to support the PA’s bid for UN recognition reports Reuters in our first item, but, secondly, Palestinians themselves are divided as many do not want the doubtful authority of the PA, with its dependence on outside funding, to be reinforced says Issa Khalaf

Why is Greece doing Israel’s will in seeking to sink the flotilla? Because with unusual diplomaic skill, Netanyahu has taken up Greece’s debt crisis and is forging a new Balkan alliance based on excluding Islamic Turkey. The article from Ha’aretz is followed by one from Yediot

Israel’s withholding of revenue transfers to the PA following the Fatah-Hamas deal prompts first the EU then France to give additional funds

The systems and technologies the EU is using to enforce internal security and external insecurity draw on Israeli products and policies of keeping people apart

“Only a few years ago, many of Europe’s far-right politicians were openly anti-Semitic. Now some of the same populist parties are embracing Israel to unite against what they perceive to be a common threat.” A disturbing account by Stefan Theil of how some members of the extreme far right in Europe are cosying up to Israel. Those invited to visit Israel by right-wing Israeli Chaim Muehlstein, included a Belgian politician known for his contacts with SS veterans, an Austrian with neo-Nazi ties, and a Swede whose political party has deep roots in Swedish fascism. They even went to Yad Vashem, to the evident horror of many who work there. But Nissim Zeev, a member of the Knesset who met with the visiting Europeans, was not bothered. “At the end of the day, what’s important is their attitude—the fact they really love Israel,” says Zeev, who represents Shas, an Orthodox right-wing party…

Critics of Israel are increasingly accused of delegitimising Israel and encouraging antisemitism. This creates a climate of suspicion in which the onus is on critics to somehow demonstrate they are not antisemitic. In this JNews post, Richard Kuper looks at how the EUMC ‘Working Definition of Antisemitism’ functions to delegitimise criticism of Israel.

Donald Macintyre reports: “The European Union is so troubled by the increased settlement activity of Israel it has proposed that EU officials should be present at the site of imminent house demolitions or evictions and intervene if non-violent Palestinians face arrest in East Jerusalem, according to a new confidential report.”
And Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt condemns demolitions in East Jerusalem.
Updated 17 Jan: Nir Hasson reports on a secret EU recommendation to treat East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state

A group of 26 senior European leaders – including former heads of state, ministers and heads of European organizations – who held power during the past decade are calling for strong measures against Israel in response to its settlement policy and refusal to abide by international law. They expressed their position in an unusual letter sent a few days ago to the leadership of the European Union and the governments of the EU’s 27 member states.

Brussels-based journalist Khaled Diab discusses the EU’s relationship with Israel, drawing critically on David Cronin’s recently published book “Europe’s Alliance with Israel”. As Javier Solana put it: “Israel “is a member of the European Union without being a member of its institutions.”
But Cronin offers little way forward. Diab argues that making Europe’s cosiness with Israel dependent on commitment to fair peace would be more effective than a blunt boycott. Furthermore, “European leaders have, with the Lisbon treaty, the tools at their disposal, given enough political will and courage, to forge a common foreign policy on key issues like the Israeli-Palestinian question [...which] would focus on a gradual, but systematic, downgrading of Europe’s relationship with Israel for as long as no progress is made to resolve the conflict. As a reward for a comprehensive and fair peace, the EU can provide Israel (and a future Palestinian state, for that matter) with the prospect of becoming a real, bona fide member of the union…”

The European Commission has made known its concern over a draft Israeli bill that forces domestic NGOs to regularly disclose funding received from foreign governments…

The EU has lost credibility among Palestinians since its boycott of Hamas: it should re-energise its approach to democracy promotion, focusing on Palestinian civil society capacity building, and being more assertive towards Israel regarding occupation policies…

Miri Weingarten writes: “A new “anti-boycott bill”, the third in a series of proposed laws that aim to curtail the ability of civil society to criticise Israeli government policy, will punish Israelis or foreign nationals who initiate or promote a boycott of Israel…” Under the proposed legislation, the EU would qualify as a “promoter of boycott”, and Israel could be seen to be breaking the terms of the EU-Israel Association Agreement…

Cathy Ashton firms up the EU position on Israel-Palestine: “[W]e need to remind ourselves why the flotilla was heading for Gaza in the first place. That underlying cause is the terrible plight of Gaza, which is now back on peoples’ radar…”

Thee are signs that the EU, led by Spain, is seeking an independent and tougher line on Israel. And Chris Patten, former European Commissioner for External Relations, writes that “Without Hamas there will not be a peace settlement. What we should require from Hamas is simple – a ceasefire, acceptance of the outcome of a peace process provided it is endorsed in a Palestinian referendum, and help in securing the release of Corporal Shalit. To insist that they accept all past agreements is bizarre when no such requirement is made of Israel.”
But the UK is dragging its feet…

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton will be giving a lecture at LSE on 11 May 2010. Tickets are free and become available a week beforehand: 6.30pm Tuesday 11 May 2010 Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building – use entrance in Lincoln’s Inn Fields as Kingsway doors [...]

Ezzedine Choukri Fishere, professor of international politics at the American University in Cairo asks why EU policy towards Israel has failed so badly. He answers: “no matter what blandishments are showered upon Israel, when push comes to shove it is the ability to use power – not charm – that determines whether an outside power has a say in advancing Arab-Israeli peacemaking…”

News has reached us from Brussels that the Spanish foreign minister, Miguel Moratinos and his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner are pressing for a resumption of the upgrade process in political relations between Israel and the EU. JfJfP yesterday wrote to David Miliband demanding that no upgrade in relations be considered while Israel flagrantly breaches the Association Agreement. We’re publishing the text here and you can join the campaign yourself, by writing to your MP & MEP to make the same request.

Tony Judt directs the Remarque Institute at New York University. In a wide-ranging interview about global political shifts, he focuses on changing European attitudes and we reproduce some extracts about Israel-Palestine [...]