The Merkel-led EU Chooses Iran and Palestine over Israel...Is There No Shame?

The head of the World Jewish Congress has chastized German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, saying his recent visit to Iran put business interests before morals and calling his approach to Teheran naive. Gabriel, who is also Germany's Vice Chancellor, visited Iran from Sunday to Tuesday, meeting President Hassan Rouhani and his top ministers. A German business delegation traveled with Gabriel, including the heads of Linde and BASF. The trip irritated Israel, with whom Germany has cultivated a close relationship since World War Two, when the Nazis killed six million Jews. The Israeli ambassador to Germany privately voiced his concerns about Gabriel's visit to the German government. The remarks of Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress were public : "It is somewhat irritating that Germany's vice chancellor and economics minister waited only five days before flying to Teheran with a delegation of German business leaders." Lauder said Gabriel's offer to function as a bridge builder between Iran and Israel was naive, given what he described as ongoing agitation from Iran against Israel and the United States. "It would have been much better to make new commercial relations with Iran dependent on a change in the regime's stance toward Israel," Lauder said. Gabriel defended his visit to Iran, saying the nuclear deal was a "good basis" for a normalization of relations, according to a ministry spokeswoman, who added that Gabriel coordinated his plan to visit Iran with Chancellor Angela Merkel. On his trip, Gabriel, head of Germany's Social Democrat coalition partner of Merkel's conservatives, told Iran it is important that it improve ties with Israel and acknowledge its right to exist. Iran has since rejected Gabriel's advice. The timing of Gabriel's trip was also a source of debate within the German government. Some felt it would have been better if Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who helped negotiate the agreement, had gone to Iran first, so as not to give the impression that Germany's priority was striking business deals. ~~~~~ At the same time that Germany is being attacked for rushing to Teheran in the pursuit of business, the German/Merkel-led European Union has now agreed to label Israeli goods made in settlements in the  West Bank, a move that troubles the Israeli government. But, there are proposals that go much further, targeting Israeli banks. In a paper titled "EU Differentiation and Israeli Settlements" to be published this week, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), whose proposals frequently become the basis for EU policy-making, argues that the EU is in breach of its own laws and must move more firmly to distinguish its dealings with Israel from Israel's activities in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. European diplomats have long said that labeling is only the first in a series of steps the EU could take against Israel over its settlements policy. The Jerusalem Post says in financial terms, labeling will have a relatively minor impact on the Israeli economy. But the new proposals would reach into banking, loans and mortgages, qualifications earned in settlement institutions and the tax-exempt status of European charities that deal with Israeli settlements. The most significant proposal suggests that large Israeli institutions that have daily dealings with major European banks, while also providing loans and financing to Israeli businesses and individuals based in the settlements, violate EU law. Under 2013 European Commission guidelines, EU-and member-state-funded lending cannot be provided to Israeli entities operating in the West Bank. The ECFR report asks : "Do day-to-day dealings between European and Israeli banks comply with the EU requirement not to provide material support to the occupation?....Under its own regulations and principles, Europe cannot legally escape from its duty to differentiate between Israel and its activities in the...Palestinian territories." The report argues that by pushing more to separate the EU's dealings with Israel from the settlements, it will force Israel to decide what sort of relationship it wants with Europe and in turn encourage it to return to talks with the Palestinians on a two-state solution to the conflict. ~~~~~ Another area in which the report says the EU may be in violation of its own rules relates to European tax-exempt charities that use funds to support activities in the settlements, which the EU regards as illegal under international law. The report also questions whether Europe should accept degrees from academic, medical and other Israeli institutions based in the West Bank, given that it does not recognize Israel's sovereignty over the territory, as well as whether the EU should be dealing with Israeli institutions - such as the Ministry of Justice and the national police headquarters - which are based in east Jerusalem. Mattia Toaldo, one of the authors of the ECFR report, says the EU must explain more clearly the legal obligation when it comes to differentiation. And the ultimate aim, he said, should be to urge Israel towards a two-state solution."Differentiation is a legal prerequisite for the EU in order to avoid violating its own laws," he said. "You have to do it legally and by the book, but it is also beneficial to the peace process because it changes the calculations by the Israelis." ~~~~~ Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Alon Lavi pointed out that the proposals are being made by a European think tank, not by the European Union itself. Lavi raised the left-wing position of several report writers, and the existence of earlier ECFR papers calling on the EU to take a more confrontational stance toward Israel. Lavi might also have noted the book "Global Think Tanks: Policy Networks and Governance" which reports that ECFR, which is not funded by the EU, like most other global think tanks, operates a diverse funding base -- including the Soros Foundation Network. ~~~~~ Dear readers, it is hard to justify a German-led Europe that rushes to do business with a defiantly terrorist Iran while considering sanctions against Israel. It is hard to accept a Germany whose drive for commercial success and influence has led it to trample on political and human truths. Has Europe once more been fooled by an imperialist, aggressive Germany that hides its true character behind the soft words of its Iron Chancellor Merkel. Where is the ordinary German citizen outrage over recurring German-EU attempts to prefer terrorist Palestine over democratic Israel? Where are German and French actions to support their flowery words condemning anti-Semitism? Where is any EU effort to force a bad-faith Palestine to negotiate with Israel? And where is America's voice in support of Israel? If Germany is once more Europe's anti-Semitic "Sick Man," all of Europe seems to have been infected. It is painful to watch Europe refusing to stand up and be counted with Israel and the Jewish people, preferring to fall into line behind Merkel and Germany in a wrong-headed, wrong-hearted attack on Israel rather than confronting the real criminals, the Palestine Authority and Hamas.