More than 600 Israeli intellectuals, senior academics and leading artists send a petition to President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Catherine Ashton in support of the European Union guidelines that exclude funding of Israeli entities active in the occupied territories.
Signatories of the petition include seven Israel Prize laureates (Dani Karavan, Alex Levac, David Tartakover, Shimon Sandbank, Zeev Sternhell, Yehoshua Kolodny and David Harel), as well as playwright Yehoshua Sobol, former Director-General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry Alon Liel and former Attorney General Michael Ben-Yair.
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Israeli petition in support of EU guidelines on funding of Israeli entities
We the undersigned support the European Union recommendation to its member states, to avoid signing agreements with Israeli organizations and companies if they are active, directly or indirectly, in the occupied territories over the green line of June 4, 1967.
We regard this EU announcement as an act of friendship and support to the state of Israel in its recognized borders. We believe that this decision will contribute to the strengthening of relations between Israel and European states.
If that decision will be fully implemented, it will accelerate the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and will increase the chances to bring both sides to the negotiating table towards an agreement that will include recognition of the green line as the basis for drawing the political border between Israel and Palestine, even if there will be small, mutually agreed modifications to it.
We hope that this decision will be implemented as soon as possible by all European states, and will convince other countries such as US, Russia, China and India to accept and join the European initiative.
We call upon the government of Israel to avoid any activities and reactions that might harm our relations with Europe, as well as to block its financial support and its activity over the green line, for the sake of all Israeli citizens.
Signed,
Prof. Daniel Bar-Tal, Tel Aviv University
Ilan Baruch, former Israeli Ambassador to South Africa
Ofra Ben-Artzi, sister-in-law of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
Michael Ben-Yair, former Attorney General
Brigadier General Shlomo Brom, former head of the IDF Strategic Planning Division. Currently serves as a senior research associate at the Institute of National Security
Prof. David Enoch, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Member of the Israeli Young Academy
Prof. Emeritus Yaron Ezrahi, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Prof. Chaim Gans, Tel Aviv University
Ilana Hammerman, literary editor and translator
Prof. Alon Harel, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Prof. David Harel, the Weizmann Institute. Recipient of the Israel Prize in 2004 &
the Emet prize in 2010
Prof. Eva Illouz, President of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem
Dani Karavan, sculptor. Recipient of the Israel Prize in 1977
Prof. Menachem Klein, Bar-Ilan University
Prof. Yehoshua Kolodny, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Recipient of the Israel Prize in 2010
Miki Kratsman, Head of Photography Department of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. Recipient Emet prize in 2010
Dr. Alon Liel, former Director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry
Mossi Raz, former Meretz Parliament Member
Prof. Ishay Rosen-Zvi, Tel Aviv University. Member of the Israeli Young Academy
Shimon Sandbank, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Recipient of the Israel Prize in 1996
Uri Segal, conductor
Yehoshua Sobol, playwright and author
Prof. Emeritus Zeev Sternhell, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Recipient of the Israel Prize in 2008
David Tartakover, graphic designer and artist. Recipient of the Israel Prize in 2002
Prof. Idit Zartal, historian
Prof. Moshe Zimmermann, Tel Aviv University
And more than 600 others