Israel Matzav

European Union publishes Nuremburg II

The European Union has published its anti-Israel regulations that seek to discriminate against Jews who reside in Judea and Samaria, and eventually against all Israeli Jews.

The guidelines significantly restrict Israeli institutions from taking part in various EU programs and being eligible for EU grants, prizes and financial instruments if they have activities beyond the Green Line.

The settlement guidelines were published in the EU's Official Journal Friday morning despite Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres having both lobbied the EU to stop the move.

EU sources said Thursday, however, that the EU will hold discussions about implementation of the guidelines with Israel. The sources noted that the guidelines will not come into effect until January 1.

...

The EU’s willingness to talk about “implementation” of the guidelines, rather than freezing them, appears to be a readiness to talk about the formula for wording in future EU-Israel financing agreements regarding their inapplicability beyond the 1967 lines.

The guidelines do not spell out exactly what the so called “territorial clause” on future agreements will say, and Barroso’s statement is an indication that there is “wiggle room.”

How kind of them.

Among those that will be affected by the new guidelines are Israel's banks. 

A visiting delegation of Scandinavian analysts to Israel held a special meeting with the management of the Association of the Banks of Israel and requested the particulars of the Israeli banks’ business in the West Bank and the extent of their commercial involvement there.

The meeting was held a few weeks ago according to a source, who said the visiting analysts represented pension and investment funds from Scandinavian countries.

In the course of the meeting it became clear that all of the Israeli banks act either directly beyond the Green Line by way of commercial branches, or indirectly through the financing of building projects there.

According to the source, the analysts subsequently reported these details to their Scandinavian clients who it is believed then acted to reduce their investments in the Israeli banks. 

The Israeli banks, for their part, have not remained complacent in the face of the EU settlement directive.

The legal departments of the Israeli banks requested that the Foreign Ministry  provide them with the details of the EU guidelines so they could assess its consequences on them and weigh their future steps.

I suppose that's one way to make European business competitive. I wonder if they're going to make the Israeli banks shut down their European branches too.

Nuremberg. 21st century style. What could go wrong?

Labels: BDS, European anti-Semitism, European Union, Nazis

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:53 PM