Israel to EU: 'Take your guidelines and put them where the sun don't shine'

Israel has rejected the European Union's guidelines that exclude Judea and Samaria from Israel. The government decided today that it will not enter into any agreements with Europe that are based upon the new guidelines. The government also accused the Europeans of 'significantly damaging' the 'peace process' with the 'Palestinians' by publishing the guidelines.

Israel will not enter into any new agreements with the EU under the terms of the recently published settlement guidelines, diplomatic sources said Thursday following a meeting on the matter chaired by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Under the guidelines, Israel would have to sign a territorial clause reneging claims to the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Golan before entering in any future agreement with the EU. The guidelines also forbid any dealings with Israeli entities over the Green Line.

The sources said that Israel would ask for further clarifications about the guidelines. It was not immediately clear whether Israel would take part in negotiations that were set to begin Wednesday with the EU over its participation in the Horizon 2020 program, to begin a week from Wednesday.  

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The diplomatic sources said there was consensus among the ministers that the EU guidelines significantly damaged the diplomatic process with the Palestinians.

Where did they find Netanyahu's backbone?