Likud in Europe

Although Israel is geographically located in Asia, the self-described ‘Jewish state’ has emphasised its Europeanness whenever it has suited it to do so. It has been allowed to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1973, as the Israeli Broadcasting Authority has been a member of the European Broadcasting Union since 1957. Israeli soccer clubs began playing in European competitions in 1991 and Israel became a member of UEFA in 1994. Even more importantly, in the political sphere, Tel Aviv’s recent major political step towards realising its apparent desire of becoming a fully-fledged European state has passed under the radar of the media.

In March, a delegation from the Likud visited Strasbourg at the invitation of the European Conservatives and Reformists faction in the European Parliament. According to the Jerusalem Post, the delegation explained the Likud’s policies to a group of 15 ECR members of parliament. The Likud reached an agreement with the ECR that enables it to become one of the ECR’s ‘regional members’, which allows Likud representatives to attend ECR faction meetings and influence its policies.

Within a year, the Likud will become a regional party ally of the European Conservatives and Reformists faction in the European Parliament. The move is likely to boost relations between Israel’s ruling party and Europe. The ECR decided the Likud could already become observers in the faction and that a delegation of ECR members would be hosted by the Likud in Israel in October.

Founded by members of the British Conservative Party, the ECR has 75 MEPs from 17 EU countries, making it the third-largest group in the European Parliament. It has alliances with the ruling Turkish AKP, with the US Republican Party and parties in Australia, Canada, Morocco and New Zealand. The most recent alliance emerged from Likud’s deputy director-general for public and foreign relations Eli Hazan’s efforts to build relations between the Likud and Center-Right parties across Europe. The meeting with the ECR arose out of Hazan’s success in reaching out to party officials on a recent trip to London.

It is hardly a coincidence that the rapprochement began in the British capital. According to the 2009 television programme ‘Dispatches: Inside Britain’s Israel Lobby’, up to 80 percent of the Conservative Party are members of the Conservative Friends of Israel.

Before last year’s election, Ha’aretz published an article that posed the question ‘Is David Cameron the Most pro-Israel British PM Ever?’ As the Israeli daily observed, “The United Kingdom may no longer be a major player on the world stage, but its prime minister has still been able to work quietly in support of the Jewish State.”

During a visit to Israel the previous year, Cameron told the Knesset in a speech about his great-great-grandfather, a Jewish banker who emigrated from Germany. The link gave Cameron “some sense of connection” to the Israeli people, he said. Given the media’s apparent lack of interest in Likud becoming a regional member of the European Parliament, Israel remains free to counter the increasingly unlikely threat of a EU boycott.

This article has been excerpted from: ‘Likud becomes a regional member of the European
Parliament’.

Courtesy: Counterpunch.org