BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a special meeting of relevant ministers yesterday to weigh and discuss the implications of new funding guidelines recently issued by the European Union (EU).

Those attending the meeting apparently included Finance Minister Yair Lapid, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Education Minister Shai Piron, Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett, Science Minister Yaakov Peri, Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir and Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin. The issue is particularly pressing as Israel is soon due to begin talks on participation in the EU’s flagship Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, in which Israel is the only non-EU country invited to be a full participant.

However, Israel’s participation and partnership in subsequent EU agreements has been thrown into question after the EU last month adopted new funding guidelines which specify that all future EU grants and prizes should exclude Israeli entities based in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The new guidelines also stipulate that the agreement between Israel and the EU should explicitly state that it is not applicable to the territories captured in 1967, which could contradict the status of some of these areas under Israeli law.

Although there was no official statement after yesterday’s meeting, widespread media reports say that it was decided to seek further clarifications on the guidelines and the Jerusalem Post says that an EU professional-technical team is expected to arrive to begin negotiations to find a formula acceptable to both sides, enabling Israel to sign future agreements. Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected to discuss the issue with EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, emphasising that a solution must be found before participation in the Horizon 2020 programme is confirmed. He will also raise the EU funding guidelines with Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who is scheduled to visit Israel next week.