Brussels, June 28th, 2023 – European Coalition for Israel expresses its great disappointment with the one-sided recommendation on EU relations with the Palestinian Authority which passed the European Parliament´s Committee on Foreign Relations with only minor amendments on Tuesday night.
The recommendation, which is drafted by Swedish Socialist MEP Evin Incir, takes a very critical line against the Israeli government whereas the Palestinian Authority, which has been the subject of much discontent within the European Parliament in recent years, gets a free pass. In one of the most appalling clauses the recommendation urges the Palestinian Authority to release all political prisoners, which include convicted terrorist operatives from EU black-listed terror groups such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
However, a proposal from the extreme left to remove these same terrorist organizations from the EU black list did not get the required support of the other parties.
The recommendation, which was adopted by 41 votes in favor and 21 opposed and with 9 abstentions also called for the EU to help the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israel for war crimes.
In a statement on Wednesday, ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell promised to continue raising awareness of the flaws of the proposed recommendation before it reaches the plenary session of the European parliament for a final vote either next month or in the first plenary session in September at the latest.
“Europe cannot compromise on its core values and principles by continuing to turn a blind eye on Palestinian terrorism and its culture of hate and incitement”, he said.
In April ECI issued the first comprehensive vote ranking on the national parties represented in the European Parliament and their views on Israel.
“We will continue to keep a close eye on how these various party groups vote in the next plenary session as we prepare for a new vote ranking ahead of next year’s elections to the European Parliament in June, Sandell concluded.