EU preps €18M to help Israel with ‘regional cooperation’

The European Commission wants to spend €18 million ($19.2 million) to help Israel with regional cooperation with its Arab neighbors including through “strategic communication and public diplomacy,” arguing the money would help strengthen stability in the Middle East and beyond. An outline of the proposed assistance, which would come from the European Union executive’s foreign aid budget, was sent to the bloc’s 27 member states on Tuesday. Countries have until Nov. 14 to provide input on the plan, seen by Devex, including the option to block it altogether. The commission proposal has three components: • “Support to the normalisation process between Israel and some Arab countries” through policy dialogues and pilot projects on shared regional challenges like renewable energy and water management. • “Support to the global fight against antisemitism” through support to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. • “Support to strategic policy dialogues and exchanges between the EU and Israel, including the development of technical capabilities and approximation of EU-Israel legislation.” Here, the document cites successes already in the fields of market regulation, statistics, agriculture policy, transport, justice, health, welfare services and environment. Overall the work is pitched as an attempt “to reinforce EU-Israel bilateral relations, in a wider effort to strengthen regional stability in support of the Abraham Accords” — a series of agreements from 2020 designed to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco. The commission also warns that “the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October and the subsequent escalation … is exacerbating regional tensions and risks serious spill overs in the neighbouring countries.” All of the earmarked €18 million would count toward the EU’s official development assistance, according to the commission, which wrote to member states that the action contributes “to the sustainable development of partner countries and the implementation of the 2030 agenda by contributing to gender equality, peace, justice and strong institutions, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, climate action and peaceful and inclusive societies.” It is not the first assistance of its kind, following €2 million in technical assistance from the EU to help Israel with regional cooperation in December last year. However, the latest, far higher, amount is likely to attract close scrutiny as the bloc struggles to speak with one voice on the latest round of conflict. Olivér Várhelyi, the European commissioner responsible for relations with countries neighboring the EU who tweeted (erroneously) that all EU payments to Palestinians would be immediately suspended in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack, is the same commissioner in charge of the latest €18 million plan, dubbed the “Regional EU-Israel cooperation in support of the Abraham Accords, and fight against antisemitism and fostering Jewish life.” At the same time, the EU is continuing humanitarian assistance to Gaza with more than €100 million this year, and the call from its humanitarian chief, Janez Lenarčič, this week for “clearly defined and respected humanitarian pauses by the warring parties.” ‘Main assumptions’ As for the latest €18 million — €17.1 million of which is foreseen as grants to be managed directly by the commission — the commission’s program document offers a series of illuminating answers to standardized questions. Under “main assumptions,” the commission argues that: “The normalisation of relations between Israel and Arab countries will resume after the end of the war between Israel and Hamas, in particular those involved in the programme; Instability of the political situation as well as escalation of violence will end; [and] Arab and Israeli civil society would want to be part in these initiatives.” Under “context,” the document states that: “On 7 October, Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack against Israel, killing 1,400 Israelis, wounding at least 3,000 and taking civilians and soldiers as hostages into the Gaza Strip. Following the attack, Israel has started military action against Hamas in the Gaza strip, which is still ongoing. “The European Council [of EU national leaders] on 26-27 October 2023 reiterated its condemnation in the strongest possible terms of Hamas for its brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks across Israel. The European Council strongly emphasises Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international law and international humanitarian law.” The commission’s document does not mention Palestinian casualties from Israeli bombing. According to a United Nations summary on Wednesday — citing figures from the Gaza-based Ministry of Health — more than 10,000 people have died in Gaza since the beginning of the current hostilities. Under its “short problem analysis” the commission writes that “the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and some neighbourhood countries has opened new possibilities of increased regional cooperation.” But amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — described as “a further element in the complex regional scenario” — the commission argues that it is important that “the normalisation process brings benefits in the context of Israeli-Palestinian relations.” In light of this, the commission says it wants to “exploit opportunities for closer regional cooperation to address a number of common regional challenges that require a shared international effort, including the transition to renewable energy and energy efficiency, (transboundary) water management, food security, disaster preparedness, transnational health and social issues, and adaptation to climate change, also in the form of trilateral or multilateral cooperation with other partners in the Mediterranean.” Finally, the commission writes that a contract for communication and visibility may be awarded in order to ensure awareness both of the projects themselves, and the fact that they are funded by the EU. “Activities will include strategic communication and public diplomacy (campaigns, social media, etc.) covering the whole action,” the document states. The commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.