Lapid to kick off first EU-Israel Council in decade
the first meeting of the eu-israel association council in a decade is set to take place next month with prime minister yair Lapid present.
the high-level dialogue between israel and the eu was founded in 1995 to strengthen relations between the sides, but it has not met since 2012. the planned date for the council meeting in Brussels was october 6, but there was discussion of postponing as of wednesday.
the eu announced the reconvening of the eu-israel association council in july. Lapid, who is also foreign minister, will take part along with high-level political figures from eu member states.
the joint statement for the council is still in the works, as it must be reached by consensus among eu member states. ireland, sweden and Belgium, among others, have long been more resistant to holding a council meeting because of the conflict with the palestinians and would likely want language referring to those issues, while hungary, the czech republic and others may be more reluctant to do so.
in recent years, several eu states blocked further council meetings from being held, first due to operation protective edge in 2014 and then to protest israeli policies toward the palestinians. some states tried to dangle a council meeting before israel as a reason to make progress toward a two-state solution.
earlier this year, eu high commissioner for Foreign affairs josep Borrell argued that an association council meeting “is a good occasion to engage with israel” about the palestinians.
israel canceled the 2013 eu-israel association council to protest the eu’s decision to differentiate between settlements and the rest of israel in all agreements, and that remains a sore point between jerusalem and Brussels.
the cabinet called off its planned vote this week to approve israel joining creative europe, an eu funding program for the arts, because it excluded judea and samaria, east jerusalem and the Golan heights. alternate prime minister naftali Bennett intervened in the matter, saying it was not appropriate
up to 71 mandates, based on a Channel 12 poll from September 16.
According to a Channel 12 poll, however, voters are not buying it.
The poll, which was published on on Saturday, asked, “In your opinion, what government will Gantz be able to form?”
There were four possible answers. Forty-three percent of respondents said they believed he would not be able to form a government. Twenty-two percent said he would be able to form a Center-Left government with the Arab parties Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am. Twenty-one percent said he could form a unity government with Netanyahu and the Likud. Just 14% said they believed Gantz would be able to form a Center-Right government with the haredi parties but without Netanyahu.
The poll did not ask directly about the option that Gantz’s party posted in its video. But the closest option – a Center-Right government without Netanyahu – is nowhere near enough seats if it does not include the Likud. The premise is that the Likud will get rid of Netanyahu, and the poll shows that very few people believe this will happen – and for good reason.
The Likud did not get rid of Netanyahu after the past four elections, and his grip on the party has only strengthened.
This led a full 40% of the poll’s respondents to believe that Gantz would break his promise and would side with either Netanyahu or the Arab parties. There also is a good reason for this belief, as Gantz already did so in the past.
Following the third election in March 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gantz broke a central campaign promise and joined Netanyahu in a rotation. He explained his move as being necessary to save the country from ongoing political chaos during the health crisis.
But who is to say that Gantz will not do so once again? Despite his promises, Gantz may argue come November that blocking a Netanyahu-Ben-Gvir government is necessary, and perhaps even an “emergency,” and join some form of rotation with Netanyahu.
This seems to be the most realistic option, other than him not being able to form a government at all. Being able to bring Labor, Meretz, Yisrael Beytenu and both haredi parties to the table would require serious political and ideological cartwheels. Even if such a government did form, the past year showed that a coalition of many small parties with competing interests would be very difficult to maintain.
National Unity will presumably continue to flout Gantz as the only possible prime minister. But it is worth keeping in mind that the scenario for him to do so will either involve Netanyahu or another highly unsustainable mix of