New York, April 12th, 2023

This shared holiday would have provided a unique opportunity for people of different faiths to show their love and respect for each other as they and their families celebrated their holidays. Sadly, instead we witnessed the eruption of violence on the Temple Mount by Palestinian extremists and a wave of antisemitic terror attacks leading to the killing of Lucy, Rina and Maya Dee in the settlement of Jordan valley in Judea while Italian tourist Alessandro Parini was killed in another terror attack in Tel Aviv.

The European Coalitions for Israel calls upon leaders of all three faiths, as well as government leaders, to condemn this current wave of violence and killings by Palestinian terrorists. In a statement in New York on Tuesday evening ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell said,
“The city of Jerusalem is unique in that it guarantees the freedom of worship for all three monotheistic religions. This freedom of religion however should not be misused by using places of worship for stirring up violence or hiding explosives. Furthermore, it is important to remember that this freedom did not exist under the Jordanian occupation from 1949-1967 but was only introduced after Israel gained control over the Old City of Jerusalem in the Six Day War in 1967. The Israeli government should be commended for maintaining this unique freedom of worship while keeping the Temple Mount safe for worshippers.

It is important however to point out that the Palestinian terrorists who killed the four people this past weekend are not representative for the majority of the Muslims living in the region. The recent terror and rocket attacks fired at civilian population in Israel are clearly orchestrated by the Islamic regime in Tehran and its terrorist proxies in the region. It is high time for the international community to call out those who are responsible for the latest wave of violence and make them accountable for the lost lives. If the European Union wants to prevent another major regional flash point from erupting into a full-scale war it will have to take immediate action by adding the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to the terrorist list as called for by members of the European parliament and a growing number of member states.

As the Abraham Accords have proven in recent years, religion does not have to be a source of conflict and violence but can instead help build peace and coexistence, as stated in the joint declaration from the First Abraham Accords Global Leadership Summit in Rome in December. ECI remains fully committed to these shared Abrahamic values but will continue to call out religious extremists and radicals of all religious persuasions who break this bond of peace”, Sandell concluded.

The post ECI mourns the victims of recent terror attack in Israel – Religious holidays should be a time to celebrate life not spread terror and murder appeared first on European Coalition for Israel.

Danish MEP Anders Vistisen noted that the Supreme Court in Israel has taken a more active role in the legislative process than what is the case in most other democracies, including in his native Denmark where the Supreme Court has only interfered in the legislative process once in its whole history! The Israeli Supreme Court on the other hand has cancelled 32 Knesset laws just in the last thirty years.

Still, in order to make constitutional reforms one needs to seek a broad consensus, something which is apparently missing in Israel society today, Vistisen said. Speaking from a Nordic perspective he therefore recommended a process of broad consensus which would guarantee the support of the judicial reform also by subsequent governments, regardless of their political compositions. But he also added that this is something for the Israeli citizens to work out and not for any outsiders such as the European Union to interfere.

Answering a direct question from program host Yossi Lempkowicz if the proposed judicial reform is posing a threat to the vibrant Israeli democracy, as has been suggested by the protestors, ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell answered that the future of Israeli democracy has to be decided in open and democratic elections and not by those who are screaming the loudest on the streets of Tel Aviv, by trade unions who are shutting down the international airport or by influential media pundits who are critical of the current government.

However, Sandell agreed with MEP Vistisen that there needs to be a broad consensus for the current judicial reforms. He was confident that a compromise can be reached if all parties show good will. The current situation is not an option as it poses a national security threat to the Jewish state at the same time as it puts into questions the stability of Israeli society as a whole which is a prerequisite for the success of the Start-up Nation and the financial system.

But the current unrest is not unique for Israel, Sandell added. In France President Emmanuel Macron is currently opposed by violent street demonstrators for having pushed through an unpopular pension reform in the national Parliament. Also other leading Western democracies are challenged by similar trends as those in Israel and France.

Therefore, those who are criticising Israel from the outside are simply throwing stones in their own glass houses, Tomas Sandell concluded.

You can watch the newly released European report here.

The post Israeli unrest part of a growing trend – The EU should not point fingers but rather strengthen its support for Israel appeared first on European Coalition for Israel.

The Judicial reform in Israel and its implication in EU-Israel relations. The program host Yossi Lempkowicz discusses with MEP Anders Vistisen and ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell in the studio of the European Parliament.

The post European Report April 2023 appeared first on European Coalition for Israel.

The status of Jerusalem for Israel today and in the future. The program host Marco Gombacci is joined in the studio of the European Parliament by MEP Hermann Tertsch, MEP Charlie Weimers and ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell.

The post European Report June 2022 appeared first on European Coalition for Israel.

In their speeches both Sandell and Israeli Ambassador Dror Eydar emphasized the central role of Yitzhak Rabin as the Chief of Staff of the Israeli armed forces in the Six-Day War which led to the reunification of Jerusalem. Sandell noted that Rabin was at the same time a war hero and a man of peace. His efforts to reach out to the Palestinians for peace resulting in the Oslo Accords were duly recognised when he in 1994 received the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO leader Yasser Arafat.

Having marked the 102nd anniversary of the San Remo Peace Conference just one month earlier in the north of Italy, Sandell reminded the audience of the longstanding connection between Italy and the Jewish people, stretching back more than two thousand years, but also about the special role which Italy played in the process which led to the rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948.

This connection was recognised by the Italian Prime Minister at the time of the 100th anniversary of the Peace Conference in 2020, Giuseppe Conte, who in a letter to European Coalition for Israel wrote, “One of the seeds of what would later become the iconic Israeli olive tree was planted in Italian soil in San Remo in 1920”.

The dedication ceremony was hosted by the Israeli Embassy to Italy and the European Coalition for Israel and concluded with the official opening of the playground together with the Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri and Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio. Other speakers included the Head of the Jewish Community in Italy, Noemi Di Segni. In the audience, apart from the ministers from the current centre-left government, were the party leader of Lega, Matteo Salvini and the main opposition leader Giorgia Meloni, thus illustrating the broad support for Israel among the political establishment in Italy, irrespectively of political persuasions.

Earlier in the day Tomas Sandell had met with the Italian coordinator in the combat against antisemitism, Professor Milena Santerini who promised her support for the work of ECI to foster Jewish life and combat antisemitism at the European Union and the United Nations as well as the plans for a Jewish Culture week in the north of Italy.

The post ECI speaks at dedication ceremony at Park Yitzhak Rabin in Rome: Let us not give up on peace! appeared first on European Coalition for Israel.

Geneva, May 10th, 2022

Quoting the phrase in the Jewish Haggadah text which is read aloud at the Passover Seder celebration each year, he said: – “in every generation they rise up against us”, giving the current inquiry as the latest example of anti-Zionism at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“Why is it only the Jewish state which has its own agenda item at the UN Human Rights Council?” Sandell asked. “Why is it only Israel which is being scrutinized by a special UN inquiry? According to the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, this type of ‘singling out’ and applying double standards, demanding of Israel something which you would not expect of any other UN member state, is simply antisemitism”, he said. “It needs to stop. Coming back to the old phrase in the Haggadah”, he added: – “yes, they try to kill us, but they fail, now let´s march on”, alluding to the ‘March of Life’ which hosted the event.

Joining the rally in Geneva were, among many others, the Permanent Representative of Germany to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Katharina Stasch, and the Israeli Permanent Representative, Meirav Eilon Shahar, who also spoke at the event. Ambassador Shahar thanked the organizer, German based NGO March of Life, and co-organizer European Coalition for Israel for standing up for Israel in capitals around Europe. Speaking about the exceptional rapprochement between Israel and many of her Muslim neighbours, she called on Christians, Jews and Muslims to work together for peace in a true spirit of the Abraham Accords.

The march, which began at the Old Synagogue in Geneva and ended just a few blocks away from the UN Headquarters in Geneva, also made a stop at Palais Wilson, where Meirav Eilon Shahar and Tomas Sandell spoke alongside Patricia Bidaux of the Grand Council of Geneva. The historic Palais Wilson building was once the headquarters of the League of Nations and is today the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The March of Life movement was assisted by a network of Swiss based NGO´s led by Richard Pittet, who coordinated the event and also spoke at each station. Founding President of March of Life, Jobst Bittner, who was unable to attend in person, sent a recorded video message in which he encouraged the audience to continue to remove the ‘veil of silence’ over past and current relationships with the Jewish people in our societies, by acknowledging and dealing with the antisemitism of the past by confronting the expressions of antisemitism today, as well as in relation to the Jewish State of Israel.

The post ECI calls upon United Nations member states to dismiss flawed UN inquiry at Geneva rally appeared first on European Coalition for Israel.

Why should European young adults engage in fighting antisemitism? The program host Marco Gombacci is joined in the studio of the European Parliament by Dylan Bokler from the European Jewish Congress, Rebeka Goba from the European Coalition for Israel and MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen.

The post European Report May 2022 appeared first on European Coalition for Israel.

This was the major theme of a unique conference held in Sanremo, Italy over the weekend, to coincide with the dates of the San Remo Peace Conference of 19-26th April in 1920. In honour of this historic conference a commemorative plaque was presented to the 5th Earl of Balfour (picture), whose great-great uncle was the chief architect of the historical document which became international law in Sanremo. Presenting the award together with Eduardo Varese (picture), the owner of the Royal Hotel, Managing Director Marco Sarlo, and Gregory Lafitte of the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy, ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell reminded the recipients of the close relationship between the First Earl of Balfour and Chaim Weizmann, recalling that he was one of the last persons to see Lord Balfour on his deathbed. The other recipient of a plaque, Israel’s ambassador to Italy, Dror Eydar, noted the historic irony in that the same nation that now host the Arch of Hadrian in Rome, which commemorates the expulsion of the Jews from Judea in AD 70, would 1850 years later hosts the peace conference which gave birth to the modern State of Israel.

The San Remo Peace Conference of April 1920 was the last leg of the Paris Peace Conference which followed the First World War. It was the most important one for the Jewish people. Chaim Weizmann, who was later to become the first President of the modern State of Israel, called it “the most momentous political event in the history of our Zionist movement and, it is perhaps no exaggeration to say, the whole history of our people since the Exile.” Britain´s Foreign Secretary at the time, Lord Curzon referred to it as “the Magna Carta of the Jewish state.” In a recorded message from Toronto, Dr Jacques Gauthier explained that it was in Sanremo that title to Jerusalem and the Holy land was given to the Jewish people. In a separate message, the 11th President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog, affirmed the centrality of the San Remo Resolution to the rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948, saying that “This was a fertility of minds coming together”. Co-Founder of the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy, Dr Gregory Lafitte explained how the Jewish state was born, not by military means, but culturally, spiritually and intellectually through the forming of central Jewish institutions such as the Hebrew University in Jerusalem but also a number of Jewish literary periodicals, especially La Revue juive, to which members of the Zionist delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, such as Albert Cohen and André Spire would contribute, as well as many other notable Jewish intellectuals like Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud.

For the European Coalition for Israel, which organized the conference in Sanremo, this information is nothing new. Already in 2010 they brought delegates from Europe, North-America and Israel to Sanremo to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the San Remo Resolution with future UN Ambassador Danny Danon as the keynote speaker. Ten years later, at the 100th anniversary, world leaders, such as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, among others, contributed by sending letters affirming the significance of the San Remo Resolution for the rebirth of the Jewish state.

But as conference hosts Gregory Lafitte, Lord Reading and Tomas Sandell pointed out – In Jewish traditional events, such as the Passover seder, one is required to retell the Biblical stories year after year. “This should now also apply to the message from the Peace Conference in San Remo. It needs to be reiterated, time and time again.

“What happened in San Remo in 1920 can be compared to what happened on Mount Horeb, where the Jewish people received the Torah and were born as a people group before they entered the promised land. In a similar way Sanremo was a Mount Horeb experience where the Jewish people were given a national home in Palestine although for most Jews this citizenship was virtual until the modern State of Israel became a reality in 1948”, Lafitte noted.

The objective of the three-day conference was to consider the feasibility of an annual Jewish Culture Festival in Sanremo to mark the importance of the Peace Conference as a rebirth, not only of the Jewish state, but also of Jewish culture. Together with stakeholders from the region and senior Italian political leaders such as Senator Lucio Malan and MEP Marco Campomenosi, the participants agreed that this message needs to be shared with a broader audience. In a special recorded message the Vice-President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas commended the organizers for initiating the festival which also received support from the former President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani.

During the conference delegates also visited the historic Villa Devachan where the San Remo Resolution was signed on 25th April 2022. In a separate discussion with the Mayor of Sanremo, Alberto Biancheri, a proposal to transform the villa into an educational center for the study of the Peace Conference and its role in paving the way for the creation of the Jewish state was discussed. The idea received strong support from the conference delegates.

The cultural program consisted of a festive concert by the Berlin Diplomatic String Quartet, which on Saturday night played classical pieces by Jewish composers from the same time period as the San Remo Conference. Earlier in the day they had also performed on the steps of Villa Devachan. The Sanremo Philharmonic orchestra performed at the final event on Sunday in the Royal Hotel. Presenting the orchestra, the president of the orchestra Filippo Biolé, noted that since the orchestra was founded already in 1904, it is quite likely that they also would have performed in the same venue at the San Remo Peace Conference in 1920 as the Royal Hotel was the official conference hotel for the British delegation.

In his closing remarks Sandell quoted Chaim Weizmann from his autobiography, Trial and Error (1949) where he described the special spirit of rapprochement at the concluding dinner at the Royal Hotel where Jews and Arabs were happily dining together while congratulating each other on the results of the conference, which apart from creating a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, also granted statehood to Syria, Lebanon and Mesopotamia (Iraq). Weizmann summarized the essence of this spirit with the words: Everyone was kind in San Remo!

The post Unique Jewish culture festival retells the story of the San Remo Resolution as Lord Balfour receives plaque commemorating historic Peace Conference of 1920 appeared first on European Coalition for Israel.

“Why is it that European media gives so little attention to the on-going slaughter of innocent civilians in Israel,” ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell asked on Friday. “As Europeans we have a responsibility to speak out when these barbaric killings of Jews, just because they are Jews, continue more than seventy-five years after the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps in Europe. Why is it that the descendants of those Jews who survived the Holocaust can still not live in peace and security in their own country,” he asked but continued, “these murderous attacks do not happen by chance. They are planted as evil seeds in the hearts and minds of young men by hate speech and antisemitic propaganda embedded in Palestinian schoolbooks and media as well as in places of worship and are supported by international campaigns to demonize Israeli Jews.”

Israel’s internal security service Shin Bet named the 28-year perpetrator as Raad Hazem and said that he was residing in Israel without a permit. His father, who is an ex-officer in the Palestinian Authorities security forces, praised his son saying, “God liberate Al-Aqsa.”

“Now it is high time for the European governments to stop funding any Palestinian institution which is part of this propaganda machine,” Sandell said. ECI commends the European Parliament Budgetary Committee for raising awareness of these problems and for demanding conditionality on any EU funding to the Palestinian Authority.

Senior foreign officials and ambassadors to Israel condemned the deadly terror attack in Tel Aviv on Thursday night. “My solidarity is with the people of Israel, who have every right to live their lives free from terror and fear,” tweeted German Ambassador to Israel Susanne Wasum-Rainer, saying, “We stand by your side.”

In a rare statement, even Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack by saying that the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians only leads to further deterioration as efforts are made to ensure stability during the month of Ramadan and ahead of the Jewish and Christian holidays.

The post ECI condemns latest wave of terror attacks in Israel – Europe has a responsibility to speak up! appeared first on European Coalition for Israel.

EU-Israel relations and the international system after the Russian invasion of Ukraine – what will change? The program host Marco Gombacci is joined in the studio of the European Parliament by Director of AJC Transatlantic Institute, Daniel Schwammenthal, MEP Antonio López-Istúriz White, and ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell.

The post European Report April 2022 appeared first on European Coalition for Israel.