Ministers and MKs from the Israeli Right harshly attacked the involvement of the EU in Israeli politics.

Two days ago, Ma’ariv published an article saying that officials from the EU funneled billions of dollars to Israeli leftist non-profit organizations to win over voters from the Right to the Left.

As a result of the articles, MK Michael Kleiner (Herut) appealed to Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, demanding that the Israeli ambassador to the EU be recalled and that the EU embassy to the PA in East Jerusalem be closed.

Minister Rubi Rivlin (Likud) called on the legal authorities to launch an investigation immediately. “The funneling of funds to leftist organizations in Israel represents crude and serious political involvement in Israeli matters and is akin to operating foreign agents inside it,” he said.

NRP Chairman Shaul Yahalom called for an immediate Knesset debate on the issue. “The tendentious involvement of foreign countries in the democratic proceedings of Israel is disgraceful and unprecedented. The accusation is not only against foreign officials who stick their noses into Israel’s internal affairs and threaten the pillars of democracy, but also against the hypocritical leftist groups who, to further their goals, use foreign funds whose source is from countries whose political objectives are foreign to the basic values of the state.”

[Note from Israel Resource Review:

Reporter Yoav Yitzchak revealed in an article appearing in Ma’ariv on 22 June that the European Union has been bankrolling activities of various left wing groups in Israel.

Among the groups:

  • 400,000 Euro to MK Roman Bronfman’s Institute for Democracy and World Leadership to encourage immigrants from the former USSR to support “peace”.
  • 250,000 Euro budgeted for the “Four Mothers” group pressing for Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. They never saw the money because Israel pulled too quickly.
  • 400,000 Euro to Peace Now for “peace education”.
  • 250,000 Euro to Committee Against the Destruction of Houses and 250,000 Euro to Ir Shalem for activities in Jerusalem against the destruction of illegal Arab buildings in Jerusalem.]

You may find the a thorough article on the subject of EU involvement in Israeli politics which ran on the April 18th issue of Israel Resource Review, entitled:
When the EU Facilitates Israeli Organizations in Support of the Oslo Process”.

This article ran in Maariv on, June 25th, 2001

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR