“European policy debates often underestimate both the trauma and the determination of Israelis,” Hildegard Bentele, a German member of the European Parliament, declared in Brussels on Thursday.
“The past two years have transformed the strategic landscape. The atrocities of 7 October were a watershed for Israel, for the region, and for us in Europe. They have forced us to confront the limits of our previous assumptions about the peace process,” she continued, speaking during a panel discussion organized at the European Parliament by the European Coalition for Israel (ECI) on the topic “Europe, Israel and the New Middle East.”
As chair of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Israel, Bentele and several colleagues traveled to the Jewish state a few weeks ago. “We saw devastated communities and the resilience of Israeli society,” she said, adding that “we need clarity, realism and responsibility.
“There can be no return to the pre–7 October status quo. There can be no reconstruction without security, without demilitarization [of Hamas in the Gaza Strip] and without a governing authority that rejects terror in both words and deeds,” she stressed.
Bentele welcomed Monday’s U.N. Security Council decision, “which recognizes the need for a fundamentally reformed governing structure in Gaza, not a continuation of the past.
“This marks a shift toward realism that Europe should support. Europe should not dismiss proposals merely because they challenge old assumptions,” the Christian Democratic Union MEP said.
She criticized the fact that for years, European policy has operated on the assumption that the Palestinian Authority is the natural partner for peace. “After 7 October, after incitement in textbooks, terror stipends and the glorification of ‘martyrs,’ it is irresponsible to pretend that simply increasing funding will generate moderation,” Bentele said, in a reference to the E.U. being the main financier of the P.A.
“The priority must be deradicalization, ending payments to terrorists, serious institutional reform, and a leadership willing to prepare its own people for coexistence, not conflict,” she added.
Bentele deplored the fact that Israel was not invited to the launch by the E.U. of the Palestine Donor Group gathering in Brussels on Thursday, where the state of reforms within the Palestinian Authority was a central topic. “This is an error,” she said. “It’s already years that we are talking about the P.A. reforms but the ‘pay for slay’ system has still not been abolished.
“If the E.U. wants Israel as a partner, it must drop the draft sanctions [proposed in September by the European] Commission against Jerusalem now that the war is over and that humanitarian aid has increased,” she said.
These sanctions are still not off the table.
During the panel discussion, Israel’s ambassador to the E.U. and NATO, Avi Nir-Feldklein, said that the Middle East is changing very fast and “we need to remember what is the goal: to live in a peaceful Middle East.
“We need the support of the E.U., but as a fair partner and not working on slogans,” the ambassador said.
Nir-Feldklein said it is time for the Palestinian Authority to cease funding terrorists, rather than complaining that Israel is withholding portions of Palestinian tax revenues that are being used to pay people involved in terrorist acts.
After a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, also on Thursday, E.U. foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas called the United Nations Security Council resolution for an International Stabilization Force in Gaza “a game changer.”
“Peace depends on Hamas not having a role, but it also depends on international partners having a role,” she said.
She said ministers discussed options to expand the E.U. border monitoring mission in Rafah (EU BAM Rafah) to other crossing points. “We also discussed whether the E.U. police support mission could take the lead in training the Palestinian police,” she added, welcoming that France pledged 100 police officers for that mission.
Kallas was due to meet later in the day with P.A. Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, “to discuss E.U. support and the Palestinian Authority’s reforms.”
Originally published by the European Jewish Press.
