US and EU reach compromise on Horizon 2020
According to the compromise, Israel would write explicitly in an appendix to the agreement that it does not accept the guidelines, while the EU will write that the guidelines reflect European policy.
The guidelines, published in July, stipulate that no EU grants, prizes or financial instruments, such as loans, could go to Israeli entities operating outside the Green Line, including in east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
The issue of loans to Israeli entities inside the Green Line that do have operations in the territories is to be finessed so that the EU can ensure that the funds do not find their way into the settlements.
Once the final language of the compromise is worked out, it will be brought to Jerusalem and Brussels for final approval. The first tenders for participation in Horizon 2020 are to issued on December 10.
The compromise agreement came after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided at an urgent meeting Monday evening that a way needed to be found to enable Israel's participation in the program, and directed Justice Minister Tzipi Livni to do so. Government officials said that although Netanyahu made clear he wanted a deal, he also made clear that it could not be at any price.
One official said that the moment he charged Livni with this task, instead of Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman or Deputy Foreign Minster Ze'ev Elkin, both of whom opposed in principle what they viewed as a European attempt to use an economic agreement to impose their political polices on Israel, it was clear a deal would be reached.Ariel University will not be able to participate in the program, and the Israeli government will compensate it for the loss of funding.
Under the circumstances, agreeing to disagree may be the best possible outcome, but at least the Europeans weren't able to impose their policy on us.
Labels: BDS, European anti-Semitism, European Union
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:48 PM
2 Comments:
Carl -
You know my feelings - I would have walked away and refused even this offensive compromise.
But the pressure from Israel's leftist academics was too much for the government to bear. At least it wasn't an outright surrender.
I think f*ck you should be appropriate response to European anti-Semites and I think on occasion in life a profanity is a well-deserved response.
But then I feel the whole intent of the European diktat to force Israel into submission to Europe's terms on the conflict. And that is exactly what Israel should never accede to.
Israel should pull out of the program and expel any EU officials from Yesha for the duration. Israel should also withdraw from all partnerships with EU universities. It's a big world, there are other people to deal with.
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