Deputy FM: Deal with EU doesn’t ‘punish’ Israeli groups

Israel’s deputy foreign minister said Israeli groups operating in disputed territories would not be “punished” under an agreement with the European Union over a funding ban.

Ze’ev Elkin told Israel Radio on Wednesday that a compromise reached with the EU would allow groups who operate in the West Bank or East Jerusalem to apply for European funding for a €70 billion ($95 billion) research project known as “Horizon 2020.” But money given would not be allowed to subsidize projects in those territories, which Palestinians want as part of a future state.

Elkin said that Israel would compensate institutions found ineligible for EU funding.

The two sides finally reached a deal late Tuesday after Justice Minister Tzipi Livni spent hours on the phone with EU officials hammering out a compromise agreement by which Israel would add a clause stipulating that it does not accept the EU’s definition of territory beyond the 1967 lines.

“It does not solve the root problem, but it allows us to sign the deal,” Science, Technology and Space Minister Yaakov Peri said in an interview with Israel Radio on Wednesday, noting that in the end, it was the good relations with the EU and the EU’s desire for Israeli and European scientists to work together that led to the agreement.

EU ambassador–designate Lars Faaborg Andersen released a statement Wednesday praising the deal.

“The agreement between EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni is excellent news,” he said. “It will allow the EU and Israel to continue their mutually beneficial partnership in science and technology within the framework of the €80 billion Horizon 2020 program, the flagship of EU-Israel cooperation.”

Israel and the EU put out a joint statement Tuesday, saying that the compromise had been reached through discussions between Livni and the EU’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton.

“The agreement fully respects the EU’s legal and financial requirements while at the same time respecting Israel’s political sensitivities and preserving its principled positions,” the statement said. “The agreement will allow Israel’s scientific community to benefit from one of the most important EU programs and facilitate its further integration into the European space of research and innovation.”

The two sides had hit an impasse earlier in the week over the interpretation of EU guidelines that deny any kind of financial support for Israeli projects outside the country’s internationally recognized borders. Jerusalem feared that the cooperation agreement would be akin to an admission that territories beyond the Green Line are not part of the State of Israel.