Europe against the Jews, once again
The Davos forum is once again dancing around the Iranian golden calf, and President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are doing their utmost to help spectators understand what they are seeing. Israel, meanwhile, has failed to extricate itself from the grasp of negotiations with the Palestinians.
In retrospect, it would have sufficed to make a general reference to the talks, just as Netanyahu did when he said it takes three, not two, to tango in the Middle East. But when forced into a corner, he had no choice but to address the European position.
Netanyahu coolly delivered a clear message concerning Europe's role in the negotiations with the Palestinians. The day it was announced Germany would be cutting grants to high-tech ventures in the settlements, it was difficult for both Peres and Netanyahu to focus solely on pushing Israel's economy at Davos. It was then Netanyahu made the statement that Europe could play a negative, not only a positive, role in the peace negotiations.
Europe unabashedly made a mountain out of this molehill remark, all the while running to stand in the long line of investors waiting to break into the Iranian market -- in so doing harming the Israeli market -- without considering the fact that the peace negotiations haven't reached their tipping point yet.
This worrying phenomenon demands a close examination on many levels. The boycott is a measure extremists in Europe -- and a few collaborators in Israel -- are pushing on the mainstream international community. The declared anti-Israel activists, and even those who tell themselves they "helping" the negotiation process, know their harsh methods are disproportionate. The boycott is particularly dangerous because already at the outset, it resembles an epidemic: Boycott leads to boycott, company after company divests, and the Jewish people are for some reason unprepared to handle the prevalent opposition from European markets. Jerusalem was asleep at the helm for many years, as though there was nothing to be concerned about.
The European boycott is not legitimate and will be promoted all around the world; Israel must understand it does not have the means of stopping it on its own. Israel needs international assistance to render this anti-Jewish boycott illegal. It needs the assistance of European governments, which are not enthused to comply. On the contrary, they are leading the war.
Netanyahu, who spoke Thursday about Europe's "negative role" in one-sidedly supporting the Palestinians, understood long ago that the Continent is once again against the Jews. To what extent will he allow this to weigh on his attempts to advance negotiations? Surely the somewhat recent affront will be raised in discussions, which have become routine, between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Netanyahu. If, as Netanyahu mentioned earlier, it takes three to tango in the Middle East, then Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is in the hotel right next door. They could, once again, start from the top.
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