UPDATES

Is the EU inadvertently encouraging Israeli settlements?

Nov 27, 2013 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz

Is the EU inadvertently encouraging Israeli settlements?
news_item/Morocco-Europe.jpg

Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz

As Australia shifts its UN vote on Israeli settlements to one more befitting of its longstanding support for a negotiated two-state solution, the EU appears to be going in the opposite direction. In addition to undermining the EU’s support for peace talks, this may even be inadvertently encouraging Israel to purposefully send Israeli citizens and businesses into the West Bank.

A common criticism of recent US policy in the Middle East and towards North Korea has been that Americans are undermining their stated goals by rewarding bad behaviour and punishing good behaviour.

For example, Muammar Gaddafi gave up Libya’s nuclear programs and moved closer to the West, only to be overthrown militarily. Saddam Hussein’s Iraq similarly had to give up an advanced nuclear effort, and was also eventually overthrown. Iran and North Korea kept their nuclear programs and have survived just fine.

Similarly, Hosni Mubarak’s Egypt was arguably the staunchest US ally in the Arab world, yet the Obama Administration had no problem allowing him to be overthrown. Then when the relatively pro-American military overthrew the anti-American Muslim Brotherhood, the US responded by cutting military aid to Egypt. Meanwhile, America has done little to prevent its sworn enemy Bashar Assad from maintaining power in Syria.

The message from this: if you’re a Middle East dictator, allying yourself with the US will cost you. Is the EU making a similar mistake with regards to Israel?

As this blog noted at the time, international law scholar Eugene Kontorovich released a critique last month of the EU’s new guidelines towards Israeli settlements in the West Bank – which prevent EU funds from going to “Israeli entities or to their activities in the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967”.

The guidelines punish Israeli businesses and academic institutions in the West Bank, most of which have Palestinian employees or students. Such Israeli entities can relocate quite easily, and if they were to do so, it is Palestinians who would suffer.

As Kontorovich points out, the guidelines are also inconsistent with EU policy in comparable situations. The last post on this issue discussed the EU’s failure to learn from its mistakes in Cyprus. This week, Kontorovich has written about its even more contradictory policy towards the Western Sahara.

As Kontorovich explains:

Morocco invaded Western Sahara in 1975 and has occupied it since, claiming it as its own territory. The Security Council has condemned Morocco’s presence and demanded a complete withdrawal.

In the face of this demand, Morocco has initiated an aggressive settlement policy. As a result, Moroccan settlers may now be the majority in the territory. …

The EU, like the rest of the world, does not recognize Western Sahara as part of Morocco, but this has not stopped EU from extending its agreements with Morocco to cover Western Sahara.

Kontorovich draws attention to a recent fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco, which extends Morocco’s territory to encompass the Western Sahara, as well as the fact that the EU is actually paying Morocco to exploit resources in the Western Sahara. This tacitly accepts Morocco’s presence in the Western Sahara as legitimate.

As Kontorovich goes on to note, one implicit message for Israel is that perhaps if it were to pursue more aggressive settlement policies, and thus offer more lucrative opportunities there for European business, the EU would find a way to make its peace with the Israeli presence in the West Bank:

The Moroccan agreement contradicts two central elements of the EU’s legal approach to Israel. The EU says that any application of agreements to the occupied territories would violate international law by “recognizing” Israel’s control. Yet while the EU also refuses to recognize Moroccan claims to Western Sahara, it sees no tension between this and extending its agreements with Morocco to that territory.

…In Western Sahara, the EU has licensed the exploitation of scarce natural resources. In the West Bank, the EU seeks to punish pure academic and business activity that do not exhaust resources but only create jobs and opportunities for Arabs and Jews.

Moreover, Israel’s economic activity in the West Bank is confined to areas under Israeli jurisdiction by agreement with Palestinian authorities under the Oslo Accords. Morocco’s activities have no limitations, because unlike Israel, it has not turned over most of the territory to Polisario rule.

Ironically, the inconsistency in European policies sends exactly the opposite message from that intended by Europe. In its dealings with Israel, the EU wants to make clear that it opposes settlements.

Fair enough. But implicitly, Europe is telling Israel that the problem is not its presence in the disputed territories, but rather that it does not have enough presence; in particular, not enough economic enterprises.

Spanish and French businesses, interested in opportunities in the Western Sahara, are pressing the EU to sign the deal with Morocco.

The Moroccan precedent suggests that if significant Israeli defense, high-tech or biotech enterprises were located in the West Bank, the EU would reduce diplomatic pressures on Israel.

The EU is not the only body that seemingly singles out Israel for punishment while taking a very different approach to the Western Sahara, despite Morocco’s presence there being manifestly illegitimate and Israel’s presence in the West Bank being at worst a grey area.

As I pointed out in January, the University of Sydney’s notorious pro-BDS Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies refuses to engage with anyone who is affiliated with any Israeli institution or even pro-Israel, but has hosted both a member of the Western Saharan resistance and a representative of the Moroccan government to discuss the conflict there.

As is standard practice at the UN, the EU appears to have taken the approach of “one rule for the rest of the world, and another for Israel”. It is difficult to see how doing so could ever lead to a positive outcome. It is encouraging that the Australian government seems to see through the UN façade and is now refusing to support it. The impact of the EU policy remains to be seen.

Tags:

RELATED ARTICLES


Screenshot from a tiktok video showing Palestinian Islamic Jihad rockets being launched at Israel from amidst civilians in a heavily populated area of Gaza

“Shield and Arrow”: Yet another Gaza conflict

May 12, 2023 | Update
Israelis celebrating Independence Day (Yom  Ha'atzmaut) in Tel Aviv (Photo: Shutterstock, Orlov Sergei)

Reflections on Israel’s 75th Birthday

May 3, 2023 | Update
Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu announces a pause in his Government's judicial reform plans in a televised address on Monday, March 27  (Image: Youtube screenshot)

Israel’s controversial judicial reforms put on hold

Mar 29, 2023 | Update
Image: Shutterstock

The implications of the Iran-Saudi deal

Mar 17, 2023 | Update
A joint air force drill during the Israel-US "Juniper Oak" military exercises in January, which were widely interpreted as sending a signal to Iran (Image: Pentagon)

New diplomatic strategies with Iran for 2023

Mar 10, 2023 | Update
Screenshot from a video showing radical Israeli rioters torching Palestinian homes in the West Bank town of Huwara (Image: Twitter)

West Bank unrest escalates following violent riots by Jewish protesters in Huwara

Mar 1, 2023 | Update

SIGN UP FOR AIJAC EMAILS

RECENT POSTS

Senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders attend a meeting with Iran’s Supreme Leader in Teheran, Iran (Image via Iran’s Supreme Leader’s website)

Essay: A New Multifront Strategy?

Erdogan vs. Kilicdaroglu: The former looks all but guaranteed to win a second round on May 29 (Image: Tolga Ildun/ Shutterstock)

What does Turkey’s election mean for Israel?

Netanyahu (right), with Defence Minister Gallant (top left), IDF Chief of Staff Halevi (bottom left) and other security officials (Image: GPO/ Flickr)

Israeli politics after “Shield and Arrow”

Biblio File: A Bob One Way

A scene from the movie BlacKkKlansman, which recalls an era of Blacks and Jews making common cause

Europa Europa: Antisemitism is its own thing

Senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders attend a meeting with Iran’s Supreme Leader in Teheran, Iran (Image via Iran’s Supreme Leader’s website)

Essay: A New Multifront Strategy?

Erdogan vs. Kilicdaroglu: The former looks all but guaranteed to win a second round on May 29 (Image: Tolga Ildun/ Shutterstock)

What does Turkey’s election mean for Israel?

Netanyahu (right), with Defence Minister Gallant (top left), IDF Chief of Staff Halevi (bottom left) and other security officials (Image: GPO/ Flickr)

Israeli politics after “Shield and Arrow”

Biblio File: A Bob One Way

A scene from the movie BlacKkKlansman, which recalls an era of Blacks and Jews making common cause

Europa Europa: Antisemitism is its own thing

SORT BY TOPICS