Lapid: EU continues problematic pattern of intervening in Israel's affairs

Lapid said he was glad that the European Union statement said it “strongly opposes” boycotts of Israel.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Yair Lapid (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Yair Lapid
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said the conclusions published by the foreign ministers of the European Union continued a problematic line of attempts to intervene in Israel’s sovereign affairs.
"The statement attempts to determine future borders and create a reality on the ground but the continued insistence on 1967 borders goes against the Bush letter and every round of negotiations between the two sides," Lapid said. "It is welcome that on a painful day like today the foreign ministers clearly condemned all terror attacks and incitement. This is an important statement that we expect to hear more often from leading figures in the European Union.”
 
Lapid, who met last week in Brussels with TU foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini in Brussels, said he was glad that the European Union statement said it “strongly opposes” boycotts of Israel. He said Israel must continue to fight against labeling of products from the West Bank and Golan Heights through ongoing diplomacy.
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog, by contrast, said the EU statement was tantamount to helping efforts to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel. He said the EU was mistaken in not differentiating between isolated settlements and settlement blocs.
"The sad thing is that the failed foreign policy of Netanyahu led to this decision by making Europe angry," Herzog said.