Israel Matzav

Israel's Leftist academics press Netanyahu on Horizon 2020

Israel's Leftist academics are pressing Prime Minister Netanayhu to accept Europe's Nuremberg-like demands regarding Judea and Samaria. That demand appears briefly in the JPost.

Various academic bodies, such as the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, have implored the government to sign the Horizon 2020 agreement, arguing that not to do so would be a huge blow to Israeli research.

Israel Radio covered this much more at length during my drive back from a business meeting in Tel Aviv today, listing one academic after another who moaned about the tragedy that would result if Israel does not bow to the Euroweenies' demands.

As a result, Prime Minister Netanyahu - he who has no backbone - has urged his Leftist Justice Minister Tzipi Livni to try to find a formula to compromise with the Europeans.

At the culmination of late night consultations Monday night, the premier instructed the Foreign Ministry and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni to try to find a last-minute compromise with the EU in light of its refusal to show flexibility on its settlement guidelines to allow Israel to participate in the scientific cooperation project. 

...

Israel has said it would not join the 80 billion euro program – Jerusalem would be expected to pay some 600 million euros into the project with the expectation of receiving 900m. euro back in research grants and investments – unless explicit understandings with the EU were reached on the implementation of these guidelines.

Earlier this month Israel presented a number of conciliating proposals to the EU, including one stating that while Israel accepts that the EU would not fund beyond the Green Line, it wants to add a clause that this should not be seen as prejudging a final agreement with the Palestinians.

Israeli officials said Monday, however, that the EU essentially told Israel that while they would like Israel’s participation, the “guidelines are what they are,” and that the decision to join the program was in Israel’s hands.

“They only showed flexibility on marginal issues,” one official said, adding that a decision whether to accept the conditions had to be made at the political level.

European sources disputed this reading of the situation, saying that the EU did show “flexibility” and was looking for a “pragmatic way of implementing the agreement.”

At the same time, one European source said, the EU did not want to be seen as granting a “victory” on this matter to Netanyahu or appear to the European public as backing down from its principles.

This afternoon, Israel Radio had the government whining that a deal could be reached if only the Euroweenies would show some 'flexibility.' Unfortunately, they're not going to show any - at least until we are strong enough to suck it up and say that we aren't going to sign an agreement with that clause and if they want to taint their program by not having start-up nation participate, they should feel free to do so. As things are now, we look weak....

Meanwhile, Herb Keinon reports that the parties are on their way to an agreement.

Tzipi Livni & Naftali Bennett talking now to EU about Horizon 2020. Diplomatic officials say the sides are on the way to agreement. #Jpost
— Herb Keinon (@HerbKeinon) November 26, 2013

What could go wrong?

Labels: BDS, European anti-Semitism, European Union

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:50 PM