“Do not drop Europe – Experts call to adhere to the EU.” That is the title of a document written by a group of Israeli academics who specialize in the European Union. In this document, these authorities express their concern about the deteriorating relationship between Israel and Europe. They expect 2015 to mark a turning point in the EU’s attitude toward Israel, mainly because EU decision-makers consider the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to be a significant factor in a series of crises that threaten economic and political order on the continent. They are referring especially to Islamic terrorism, which is thriving, as it strikes at the heart of Europe. This violence is perceived in Europe as spillover of Middle Eastern violence to the continent.
The authors of the document, all senior researchers on the EU from leading Israeli universities, visited the EU headquarters in Brussels on Feb. 1-4, only about a month after the January terror attacks in Paris. The group included Prof. Alfred Tovias of the Hebrew University, Dr. Roby Nathanson of the Macro Center for Political Economics, Dr. Tal Sadeh from the Tel Aviv University, Dr. Lior Herman and Dr. Maya Sion from the Hebrew University and the author of this article. Following these Paris attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refocused and clarified his perception, by which Israel should decrease its economic dependence on Europe. Netanyahu anchored that on the wave of Islamization, anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism washing over Europe nowadays.