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Israel Has Some True Friends in Europe

(Ynet News) Bastiaan Belder - There are true friends of Israel inside European institutions. In discussions on a resolution on the EU's role in the Middle East peace process that was adopted in the European Parliament last week, the European People's Party (EPP) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the first and third largest parties at the Parliament, teamed up to delete the most poisonous language from the document. For example, we took out wording which called for the release of all Palestinian political prisoners currently serving sentences in Israeli jails, arguing that some terrorists are in prison because they planned to commit a terrorist act. Other wording that was deleted included the call for the labelling of Israeli produce originating from entities beyond the green line. Another success was the inclusion of the passage that any rocket fire into Israel by militant groups is unacceptable and that it is imperative for the EU to work in partnership with Israel to prevent the re-arming of terrorist groups in Gaza and the West Bank. Unfortunately, the basic notion of Palestinian terrorism is always downplayed in the corridors of the European institutions, though this is the true obstacle to peace. The writer, a Dutch member of the ECR group at the European Parliament, is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
2015-10-02 00:00:00
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