EU wants to widen economic ties with Israel

[Darranar]

The EU-Israel association council on Monday
stressed the need to widen economic ties with
Israel, a European radio station reported. The
council convening in Brussels is attended by
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and 25 European
foreign ministers.

The Radio Free Europe station
quoted EU officials as saying
that the bloc's ties with
Israel are "wider and deeper"
than with any other country
in the region. Besides
growing trade volumes, both
sides are interested in
advancing cooperation in
fields like agriculture, energy, and science.
Israel is also keen to
participate in the Galileo satellite project,
the satellite positioning system currently
being developed by the EU, set to rival the
U.S. geo-positioning system (GPS), the
officials said.

The Europeans are also planning to criticize
Israel's refusal to receive any EU
representative who has met with Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.

Ahead of the Brussels meeting, Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon and Shalom have agreed to reopen
diplomatic channels to the European Union's
peace envoy despite his contacts with
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, and
allowed him to meet with senior officials in
Jerusalem such as the director-general of the
Foreign Ministry, but not with any cabinet
ministers.

Haaretz

[Aidoneus]

1. well, that proves it

These anti-Semites want to see Israel just throw right into the sea. The devils.

[Paschall]

2. Shhh...

It's only so we can snatch all her avacado groves. But keep that to yourself! (We never had this conversation.)

[vierundzwanzig]

3. Very odd

Being in Europe from time to time I sense two almost opposing movements, namely the one mentioned above that acts on purely economic reasons and another more politically motivated that wants to sever ties.

The two are equally strong from what I can tell.

So according to vierundzwanzig the above is only half true ;-)

[tinnypriv]

4. On the Arafat thing

"The preoccupation with Arafat is primarily an anachronism, because we will not determine who is relevant and who isn’t ... let us look
at the Palestinians’ political map, and it is a fact that nothing can happen without Arafat."

(former GSS chief Avraham Shalom, quoted: 'We are Seriously Concerned About the Fate of the State of Israel', Yediot Aharonot, 14 November 2003, cited by Alef)