Israel Matzav

EU Ambassadors not happy about being put in their place

Prime Minister Netanyahu's National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror gave a briefing to the European Union's 27 ambassadors to Israel. And the ambassadors were not very pleased about it.

European diplomats have called National Security Council head Yaakov Amidror aggressive and arrogant for "reprimanding" EU countries for their policies toward Israel, during what was supposed to be a routine briefing.

Amidror had been invited to give a political-security briefing to 27 European Union ambassadors to Israel. Three diplomats who were present at the meeting, on 14 July, told Haaretz that the national security adviser's style was blunt and that many ambassadors were insulted at what they perceived to have been a reprimand of the EU.

"He was aggressive, contemptuous and arrogant," one of the ambassadors told Haaretz. "Some of the ambassadors were genuinely traumatized."

Amidror told the ambassadors that the EU is always critical of Israel but never of the Palestinians. He said that the EU, as a group, is unable to adopt a balanced stance, and said that Israel cannot be blamed for everything.

Amidror warned that unless the EU altered its position and pressured the Palestinians, there would be no resumption of negotiations between the two sides.

Amidror added, "You only support the portion of the [Barack] Obama address that is good for the Palestinians, and not the portions that are good for Israel. You need to speak more like Hillary Clinton and less like [Russian Foreign Minister] Sergey Lavrov."

At the end of the briefing Amidror apologized for his style. "I apologize if I was blunt - I am not a diplomat," he was quoted as saying.

Sounds fine to me. In fact, I think it's time that the Europeans be made aware of the consequences of their actions. And yes, actions have consequences.

Labels: European Union, Yaakov Amidror

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:42 AM