It’s amazing that at this late date, the European Union, in secret, is considering, upping its disapproval of Israel’s occupation policies, drawing, perhaps, some redlines, that don’t even pretend to free Palestinians or bring about a Palestinian state. Don’t these ostensibly subversive EU Israel-Palestine policy wonks understand that their confidential considerations would actually enable Israel’s continued occupation?
Perhaps this is the reason these highly confidential discussions have been leaked.
The redline policy the EU is considering and reported by Haaretz is about forcing Israel not to foreclose the very distant and ill-defined possibility of a Palestinian state. Listen to the policies being considered that seem so exclusive they can’t yet be seen in the light of day:
According to current EU policy, any upgrading or development of ties to Israel is conditioned on actions it might carry out to advance the peace process and the two-state solution. The principle in the new document is that the EU will respond with sanctions and restrict its ties with Israel in response to actions that could make the two-state solution impossible.
European diplomats familiar with the document say it discusses Israeli actions that would constitute a red line for the EU. For example, it mentions advancement of construction in the E1 area between Ma’aleh Adumim and Jerusalem; construction of the Givat Hamatos neighborhood and additional construction in Har Homa south of Jerusalem, both of which are over the Green Line in Jerusalem. The EU believes that such construction puts at risk territorial contiguity of the Palestinian state and might make it impossible for Jerusalem to be the capital of both states.
Sanctions mentioned by the document include marking products manufactured in the settlements in EU supermarkets; limiting cooperation with Israel in various areas; and even restrictions on the free-trade agreement with Israel.