The Israeli government regularly shoots itself in the foot internationally to try to look like it’s defending the illegal settlements, but rarely have they had such a stark dollar figure as with the new Horizon 2020 deal.
The EU’s Horizon 2020 research program has massive funding and a seven-year timespan that would net Israeli organizations over $1 billion in grants and prizes, far more than Israel would be asked to contribute.
The problem is that Israel is officially “outraged” at the EU for issuing guidelines on their laws regarding settlements, warning companies that they can’t have business ties with Israeli organizations that are involved in illegal settlements in occupied territory. Israel already stopped a plethora of humanitarian aid from the EU to Palestinian civilians to “retaliate,” but that was apparently insufficient.
Now Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin says Israel is ready to forgo participation in Horizon 2020 if the EU insists that the prizes can’t be granted to settlers or settlement organizations, which of course under EU law they can’t.
Thus raising an intriguing possibility. The rest of the world won't have to stop dealing with Israel over the settlements. Israel will cut itself off from the rest of the world to punish us for not approving of them.
Those five million people just aren't going to put up with us six billion any more. That'll show us.
well put. it's so unbelievably childish, like their responses when you ask them why the whole world (through UN resolutions) condemns their behavior several times every year since the early 70s: "Because they are all against us!"
I hope that Israel gets its wish and loses the generous help it should not be getting.
You can't make this stuff up… kind of like the Tea Party's willingness to shut the USG down to make a point – and look good to the base. Idiocy.
It's $600 million, and apparently not worth signing for, like a sub-prime mortgage with a punitive clause. It's interesting, and the story behind this, that the EU requires a signed document from israel to prove its claim that settlements are illegal as it has erroneously claimed for years. (According to international law scholars). Why the need to have Israel acknowledge it in writing if their case is so cut and dried? It's really not a lot of money in the scheme of things if you look at Israel's GDP and growth figures. I doubt it's going to hinder any innovation and suspect the EU will blink first. Three words…gas…oil..Russia.
This festering sore nurtured with 5Billion every year has been allowed to continue since 1945 much too long many thanks EU.