BICOM

Israel and the European Union (EU) signed an agreement yesterday to allow Israel to exchange information on terrorism and serious crimes with European member-states.

The agreement will relate to cooperation between the Israeli Police and Europol (EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation) to facilitate joint investigations and help to thwart threats from organised crime, international cybercrime, terrorism and other cross-border criminal activities. This will mark Europol’s first-ever working agreement with a country that is not a member of the EU.

Israel’s National Police Commissioner, Inspector General Roni Alsheich, flew to The Hague to sign the agreement with Europol Executive Director Catherine De Bolle.

De Bolle highlighted the benefits of the agreement: “It is a major step forward in enhancing the relationship between Europol and Israel. The arrangement will multiply contacts at all levels and open doors to closer cooperation, making the European Union and Israel safer.”

Alsheich added: “The agreement will enable the Investigations and Intelligence Division of the Israel National Police to advance its capabilities to deal in the best way possible with new threats in the field of organized crime, cybercrime exploited by international criminal and terrorist elements, fighting terrorism in its various forms, and crime that crosses borders in the field of social economies.”

Following the announcement, Haaretz reported that: “According to EU officials, the agreement does not include the exchange of information with personal or geographical characteristics whose source may be in the West Bank, which is the main topic of disagreement in negotiations for a broader accord. If such a final agreement is reached, it would have to be brought to a vote in the European Parliament, which since 2012 has excluded the settlements from any agreement with Israel.”

In a separate development on Israel-EU relations, yesterday Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan responded to a strongly worded letter by the EU’s foreign minister, Federica Mogherini that criticised his Ministry’s “vague and unsubstantiated” allegations against the EU.

In a tweet posted by Erdan, he described Mogherini’s accusations as baseless and said: “It won’t stop me from stating the facts: EU taxpayer funds go to NGOs linked to BDS and terror.” Erdan added that he was happy to accept Mogherini’s invitation to Brussels to present proof of his allegations.