Israel Matzav

Priorities: Europe looks to stop its banks from lending to Joooz in Judea and Samaria - UPDATED

Europe's priorities continue to be anti-Semitic. The European Gestapo is now trying to stop EU banks from lending money to Jews and Jewish businesses with operations in Judea and Samaria.

The most significant proposal is on banking, where large Israeli institutions have daily dealings with major European banks, while also providing loans and financing to Israeli businesses and individuals based in the settlements.

Under European Commission guidelines from 2013, EU- and member-state-funded lending cannot be provided to Israeli entities operating in the occupied territories.

With the British government holding a controlling stake in some banks following the financial crisis, that would in theory prevent those banks providing financing to Israeli counterparts that have dealings in the settlements.

"Do day-to-day dealings between European and Israeli banks comply with the EU requirement not to provide material support to the occupation?" the report asks, saying it is an issue that EU member states have yet to resolve.

The issue extends into loans and mortgages. An Israeli with dual European citizenship should, in theory, not be able to use a settlement property as collateral for a European loan since Israeli-issued property deeds are not recognised.

Another area in which the EU may be in violation of its own rules relates to European charities that are tax-exempt while using funds to support activities in the settlements, which the EU regards as illegal under international law.

And the report questions whether Europe should accept qualifications from academic, medical and other Israeli institutions based in the West Bank given that it does not recognise Israel's sovereignty over the territory.

Likewise, there is a question mark over whether the EU should be dealing with Israeli institutions - such as the Ministry of Justice and the national police headquarters - which are based in East Jerusalem.

Is this what we can expect next?


UPDATE 8:28 PM

A very interesting Twitter conversation: EU in Israel denies that any of this is going to happen.

@GeraldNGOM @LukeReuters @HerbKeinon EU not considering any of the proposals in ECFR paper. Does that answer your question?

— EU in Israel (@EUinIsrael) July 22, 2015

Hmmm.

Labels: BDS, European anti-Semitism, European Union, Judea and Samaria

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:16 PM