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International Pressure to Grow after Election, But Sky Won't Fall

(Times of Israel) Raphael Ahren - While increased pressure on Israel is a given, Israel is not about to become a pariah state, or even be subject to severe punitive measures, several Israeli officials and analysts have indicated. Officials in Jerusalem identify the EU as the main potential source of diplomatic trouble in the years ahead. However, "right now, Europe's governments are bothered by the situation in Ukraine, so it is doubtful that they will take the time to create another active front, this one against Israel," a senior European diplomat serving in Israel told Al-Monitor. Indeed, senior officials in Brussels cynically mocked the prospect of the EU actually trying to punish Israel for lack of progress on the peace process. Dr. Esther Lopatin, director of the Center for European Studies at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, noted that political and societal trends within Europe will lead Brussels to take an increasingly benign attitude toward Jerusalem. The European Parliament, for instance, is increasingly dominated by center-right parties sympathetic toward Israel. Furthermore, the arrival on the scene of the Islamic State causes many Europeans to identify with Israel's plight. Indeed, she argued, threats of homegrown Islamist fundamentalism slowly breed understanding for Jerusalem's position on the peace process.
2015-03-19 00:00:00
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