Israeli diplomacy is still over-dominated by military and security figures, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs director-general Yoav Biran yesterday at the Institute of Policy and Strategy's annual Herzliya Conference session on possibilities and opportunities in Israeli-European relations. "I am one of the minority of professional and civilian staffers, among the multitude of military men and top brass," he said.
EU External Relations Directorate General deputy director-general Dr. Michael Leigh listed five key areas in an EU proposal for creating new cooperation with Israel: free movement of goods, services, and people, which would require Israel to meet standards of individual rights, minority rights, democracy, commercial standards, etc; police collaboration in fighting organized crime and money laundering; energy, transportation, environment, and telecommunications; educational links between universities; the war against terrorism, defense policy, and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Biran said Israel could not just make angry and contemptuous comments about the EU, but must offer the Europeans, "a real willingness to cooperate, not only in economics, science, and technology, but also in diplomacy, provided that Europe takes a reasonable line." Biran added that despite this position, he had serious criticism to make of the EU, which "frequently condemns Israel at the lowest common denominator."
Israeli Ambassador to the EU Oded Eran said Israel preferred was a upgrade in status from the current association agreement through improved relations, which he said was better than full EU membership.
Eran said the main sticking point preventing Israel's full EU membership would be "the loss of independent response capability in diplomatic and defense matters." He said Israel was not prepared to pay such a price. Another problem was Israel's Jewish identity. He said, "The EU might demand changes in identity in exchange for membership."
Eran said the option of continuing Israel's current status with Europe "allows diplomatic problems to be ignored, and enables Israel to give diplomatic preference to the US in the peace process, for instance." He added, however, that the US option did not prevent Israel from pursuing potential cooperation with Europe.
At the end of the discussion, the invitees were asked if they thought Israel should become a full member of the EU. 44.8% replied yes, 20.7% said maybe, and 34.7% said no.
When asked if Israel should join NATO, 58.1% replied yes, 38.7% said no, and 3.2% said maybe.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on December 18, 2003