Magazine / History / Israel and Europe / Interview | 14/05/2008

"Europe abandoned its moral voice"

Henry Siegman, president of the U.S./Middle East Project, explains in an interview with eurotopics-editor Nikola Richter why the European countries should show their friendship to Israel but also regain their political standing in the peace process.

euro|topics: Sixty years ago, on 14 May 1948, David Ben Gurion read out the declaration of independence of the state of Israel in the city museum of Tel Aviv. How has the relation between the European countries and Israel changed since then?
That relationship started with uncertainty because Europe was in disarray in the aftermath of World War II. Europe had very deep feelings of guilt for having essentially stood by and done very little as the liquidation of the Jewish people by Nazi Germany proceeded.

Photo: AP

With the establishment of the European Union and the development of a European diplomacy that assumed a certain coherence towards the larger international community, one can begin to speak of a European attitude towards the state of Israel.

euro|topics: When exactly did this European attitude towards the state of Israel emerge?
One can never speak of a unanimous European view. But one can surely say that European countries without exception had a friendly attitude towards the Jewish state. They felt that they had a very special obligation in light of history to be supportive. However, in the early stages of that relationship, the European countries had a real sympathy for Palestinian aspirations and articulated a moral critique of the occupation – post 1967, of course – a critique that expressed itself not only vis-à-vis Israeli policies but also towards the United States, which was unbalanced in its one-sided support of the state of Israel. For a period of time the European voice was heard internationally as a balanced constructive moral voice on the issues of the Palestinian-Israeli encounter.

euro|topics: Is this moral voice still audible today?
No. At a certain point Europe abandoned that moral voice, because politically it found itself on the margins due to the attitude of several Israeli governments that would clearly not relate at all to Western countries that did not essentially support the American line. Thus, the European leaders could not even get past the prime minister's doors in Jerusalem.

euro|topics: What did the EU do to overcome their marginalisation?
In 2002, Europe put its weight completely behind the Road Map and joined the Quartet (UNO, USA, Russia, EU) that was established to oversee and implement the requirements of the road map. Now they were able to have photo ops – photographic opportunities – in Jerusalem. Their ambassadors were photographed with the Israeli prime minister and the foreign minister, and they were able to make trips there very often. But they subjugated their position to Washington – although in all fairness they continued to play a very important humanitarian and economic role, being the largest contributors to the Palestinians, towards institution-building and humanitarian purposes. But politically they became totally irrelevant.

euro|topics: Today, the EU-Israel relations are based on several association agreements, in trade, business dialogue, education and innovation. Should this pragmatic approach, this neighbourhood policy, be expanded, or would you rather ask for a return of Europe's moral role?
The neighbourhood policy, of course, encompasses the Mediterranean, not just Israel, it extends to the Arab countries as well. But even here, Europe paid in my view a terrible price. I know from my own discussions with the European leaders that they believe it is utterly impossible to achieve an end to the occupation, to the blood-shedding and the violence if the peace-making is limited to Fatah and to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. It is impossible to make peace with half of the Palestinian people.

euro|topics: How could the EU leaders regain some of their standing?
They need to get away from this idea that they can express the friendship and the debt they might feel they have towards the Jewish people by being indifferent to specific policies of Israel's government, aimed at the dispossession of the Palestinian people. They can best show genuine friendship to the Jewish people and to the people of Israel – all of the people of Israel, which means Jewish citizens and Arab citizens – by returning to Europe's earlier role of addressing issues in a politically fair and balanced way and by retaining their commitment to the moral underpinnings of a viable international order. Having pictures taken with politicians from right-wing organisations whose policies are destructive of these goals is not a contribution by Europe.

Henry Siegman

Henry Siegman was born in Frankfurt in 1930. He is the president of the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP) which was part of the Council on ...
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