European Union Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen. (Shutterstock)
Minister Ofir Akunis canceled his attendance at a joint event with the EU in protest over EU labeling of Israeli products from areas beyond the pre-1967 borders. Europe has not learned the lessons of history, Akunis stated.
Minister of Science Ofir Akunis will not participate in a pre-scheduled science event this month with the European Union (EU) due to its decision to label products from Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights at European supermarkets.
“The EU position is that we do not recognize Israeli authority beyond the [socalled] Green Line. It is not part of Israel. It is not part of what we understand to be Israel’s international recognized borders,” EU Ambassador to Israel Faaborg-Andersen declared on Wednesday.
“The labeling initiative is a dark stain on the moral fabric of Europe, which bears witness to the fact that the lessons of history have not been learned,” Akunis stated in a letter penned Thursday to Faaborg-Andersen, in apparent reference to Europe’s culpability in the murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust. “What began with calls to boycott Jewish businesses continued with the marking of human beings, and afterwards with their systematic destruction.”
Akunis added that the EU policy is destructive to peace efforts and will encourage Palestinian terror, noting that thousands of Palestinians are employed in Israeli factories over the Green Line and they would be the first to suffer if those businesses were hurt.
The Israeli government and the Opposition are united in standing against the EU policy. Opposition leader Isaac Herzog called it a “violent act” that would reward terrorists.
By: Terri Nir, United with Israel