Israel-Europe relations strained under Netanyahu
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JERUSALEM — A nasty diplomatic row with Sweden, Norway's decision to divest from an Israeli defense contractor and rising European condemnation of Israeli settlements point to growing friction in the Jewish state's already tricky relationship with Europe.
European countries are taking a notably sharper tone at a time when a new U.S. administration is more willing to take Israel to task. Last winter's Gaza war and the advent of a right-wing government in Israel have fueled increasingly vociferous criticism of Israel on a continent that is home to some of its most important allies and trading partners.
Israel's request for an upgrade in its trade relationship with the European Union has been put on hold. Calls for boycotts of Israel and divestment from Israeli companies have been gaining steam. And tens of thousands of Europeans have taken to the streets in recent months to protest Israeli actions, especially the high civilian toll in its bruising war against Hamas militants in Gaza.
Western Europe, with its sizable Muslim minorities and influential leftist movements, has long been less buoyant about Israel than the United States, with its large Jewish population and conservative political base. Yet the European Union is Israel's biggest trading partner, accounting for about one third of imports and exports.
That could give Europe significant leverage in pushing Israel to stop expanding settlements on lands the Palestinians claim for a future state — the main U.S. and Palestinian demand before resuming Mideast peace talks.
Israel is seeking upgraded trade ties that would give it tax breaks and better access to EU markets, closer cooperation in areas such as energy and battling terrorism, and more educational exchanges.
Europe has been actively using this leverage, said Richard Youngs, a political analyst in Madrid, Spain, even though the EU has not taken up British-led calls to deny preferential treatment to Israeli products made in settlements.
"I think it has passed up what could have been a good opportunity for influence over the settlements," Youngs said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to heed the demand for a complete settlement freeze — announcing plans to build hundreds of new housing units in the settlements. His government painted the new construction as a prelude to a freeze, but has had a hard time selling that viewpoint internationally — especially since Israel also plans to finish some 2,500 units under construction.
The European criticism is not across the board. Italy has the most pro-Israel prime minister in its history and Germany sees itself as a stalwart protector of the state created in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust.
But Israeli analyst Jonathan Spyer said "the hostility is reaching an extreme nature that we haven't seen before."
"It's not an ideal climate that Israel would want between itself and its major trade partners in the EU," he said.
Israeli Foreign Ministry official Itzhak Levanon, a former ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, said that overall, nothing even approximating a crisis can be discerned in Israel-Europe relations.
"There are some voices coming from here or there but I would not dare to say there is a kind of political animosity against Israel," he said.
But there are signs of discontent.
Britain recently revoked several licenses granted to U.K. companies to sell weapons parts to Israel because of concerns over their use in the assault on Gaza. But the move was largely symbolic, as Britain supplies less than 1 percent of Israel's military imports.
Norway decided to sell its shares in Elbit Systems Ltd., an Israeli company that provides surveillance equipment for the separation barrier between Israel and the West Bank, leading Israel to lodge a formal diplomatic complaint.
Jan Egeland, who helped organize the talks that led to the 1993 Oslo peace accords and directs the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, predicted further divestments and criticism.
"Israel changed from being the underdog that we could identify with to today being a local military superpower that occupies a vulnerable neighboring people," Egeland said.
Sweden's foreign minister abruptly called off a visit to Israel this week amid a feud over an unsubstantiated Swedish newspaper article that accused Israeli soldiers of harvesting organs from dead Palestinians. Sweden's government has rebuffed furious Israeli calls for an official condemnation, citing freedom of the press.
In France, an online grassroots campaign is trying to push cosmetics maker Sephora to pull products by Ahava — such as creams and face masks made from Dead Sea minerals and produced in West Bank settlements.
A similar campaign persuaded British retailer Selfridges to suspend sales of Ahava products in 2001-2002, though they later resumed. Sephora officials would not comment on the campaign, and Ahava spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.
European governments have never been fond of Jewish settlements, but in recent months their criticism has been increasingly vocal.
"Profoundly sad" and "bad" is how the Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen described the latest Israeli plan to build more housing units in the settlements. Britain's Foreign Office issued a statement saying, "all settlements are illegal under international law." And the EU, in a statement Wednesday, expressed its "serious concern" over the approval of new settlement construction, which it called "an obstacle to peace."
The tougher European tone coincides with a major departure in the United States from President George W. Bush's blanket support of Israel. The Obama administration strongly condemned the settlement building plan.
"For the first time in a long time, Washington and Europe are speaking in tandem, speaking with the same voice," said Yossi Mekelberg, the director of the international relations program at Regent's College in London.
While governments across Europe say settlements must stop, they vary in how far they're willing to push. And the priority of some European countries is clearly to keep ties with Israel as friendly as possible. Spain's prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, is expected in Israel next week on a mission meant to firm up ties ahead of Spain's ascension to the EU presidency in January.
Chancellor Angela Merkel recently underlined Germany's special commitment to Israel's survival, saying it was her country's obligation to "defend Israel always."
In Italy, Premier Silvio Berlusconi has reversed a decades-long pro-Arab tilt by Italian governments and made Italy perhaps the Jewish state's best friend in Europe.
Charlton reported from Paris. Associated Press Writers Constant Brand in Brussels, Raphael Satter in London, Ian MacDougall in Oslo, Mike Corder in the Hague, Matt Moore in Berlin, Daniel Woolls in Madrid and Jen Thomas in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Source: The Associated Press
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