Israeli civil society and peace activists cannot promote peace if EU disregards severe human rights and International Law violations by Israel. It’s time for a real dialogue.
To advance a peaceful solution for Palestinians and Israelis, a coordination of internal and external efforts is required. The fact is that the Israeli government – with either the Right or the Centre-Left in power – is not interested in ending its control over Palestinian lands and people. This is clear to the Europeans and even to the American administration. Tragically, “peace talks” are seen by Israeli politicians as a cynical instrument to stall time in order to construct more illegal settlements.
I have been active in the struggle for peace for a decade. In this short period, Israeli human rights and peace groups have tried nearly every possible strategy: reaching out to Israeli public, launching educational programmes, lobbying political leaders, petitioning in court and generating international pressure. Despite all our efforts, violations of human rights continue. The meticulous documentation of these violations, carried out by committed human rights groups, does very little to prevent civilian deaths and everyday violence.
The EU-Israel Association Agreement forms the basis for all EU-Israel economic relations, including Israel’s preferential access to EU markets. Article 2 conditions the Agreement upon respect for human rights by both sides. Israeli leaders continue violate these obligations to the EU for one simple reason: because they can.
There is no accountability for human rights violations; the impunity is extended to soldiers on the ground, to senior military officials and political leaders authorizing these violations, to Israel as a state. As an Israeli citizen, I don’t see impunity for violations of human rights and international law as a favourable treatment. We need to trust the international community to hold countries accountable for these violations – also and especially when committed by our own countries.
It is often said that upgrading the Agreement is a way to maintain an ongoing political dialogue with Israel. But in reality, Israel gets the message that it can disregard human rights and democratic principles on which the Agreement is based, continuously breaching its commitments to the EU. There will be no sanctions: only rewards. For Israeli politicians, “political dialogue” are just empty words, as long as the agreements are signed and the budgets flow. It’s unpleasant, but the truth is that they couldn’t care less.
If Israel is a democracy, isn’t it up to us, the Israeli citizens, to influence our government? Following the Lebanon War in 2006 and the unprecedented assault on Gaza in 2009/9, peace activists in Israel have realized a simple truth: we cannot do it alone; we can’t change it all from within all by ourselves.
In fact, the endless rhetoric of “Israel is a democracy” is suspicious like every statement repeated to exhaustion, and rightly so. The democracy in Israel is not strong enough for the peace movement to have an effect: the education system is too militarized; the media is too biased and nationalistic; the public atmosphere is too “patriotic” to contain realistic self-criticism without regarding it as treason. In other words, there are structural barriers.
Changes from within can take effect only given corresponding efforts from without. As long as Israel’s violations of human rights and breach of commitments to the EU are met with impunity, the Israeli civil society stands no chance. We need functioning international mechanisms to generate democratic changes inside Israel.
Spokespersons of Israeli Delegations may say that Agreement suspension would antagonize the Israeli public towards the EU. This is not necessarily true. Israelis love traveling to Europe and would most probably hold their leaders accountable for any reprimand from the EU. The suspension would make it clear to Israeli leaders and the Israeli general public that the EU is a serious political partner that expects Israel to respect its agreements.
Suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement is a clear message that can be delivered to Israel. It would be a powerful message to supporters of human rights and peace world-wide. It would also be a real EU-Israel political dialogue, whose time has come.
Inna Michaeli
Author is Israeli Peace activist and sociologist