Minister distances Israel over H2020

Israel is expected to further distance itself from the EU’s new settlement guidelines as talks on the country’s participation in Horizon 2020 begin.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the country’s deputy director general for economic affairs in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Irit Ben-Abba, is expected to say in a statement that whilst Israel does not agree with the guidelines, it is up to the Union to decide how its funds are spent. However, she is expected to add that the country cannot accept EU efforts forcing Israeli companies to stop operating in the Occupied Territories.

Under the new EU guidelines, any companies operating in the Gaza Strip, West Bank or Golan Heights would not be eligible to receive EU funds; only enterprises within Israel’s pre-1967 borders could obtain Union grants, prizes and other financial instruments.

EU and Israeli officials are expected to only debate the technical and financial aspects of the next framework programme as talks begin in Tel-Aviv. According to an official, the Israeli leader told Catherine Ashton last week, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, that the country would not join Horizon 2020 on the basis of the current EU guidelines. It’s understood Ben-Abba will lead the Israeli negotiation team with the EU’s directorate general for Research and Innovation.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu described the EU guidelines as ‘undermining peace’ to German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who was on a diplomatic visit to the country. Netanyahu said the rules were helping to harden Israeli attitudes towards Palestinians.

This morning, Israel released 26 Palestinian prisoners in a deal to reconvene Middle East peace talks in Jerusalem, for the first time in three years.