Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Ynet:
Franco Frattini, European Commissioner for Justice Freedom and Security, says at Herzliya Conference that Israel has right to defend itself against Qassam rockets, expresses regret at EU treatment of Israel. John Bolton: Israel must consider military action against Iran
A change in EU attitudes towards Israel? In a briefing to Israeli reporters Tuesday, European commissioner for Justice Freedom and Security, Franco Frattini, said that the steps leading up to the Gaza blackout cannot be construed as a war crime and criticized the incessant Qassam rocket fire on Israeli civilian population centers.
In a lecture sponsored by the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, Frattini also issued a massive mea culpa to the State of Israel on behalf of the European community for its treatment of Israel during the second Intifada.
"There has been a large misunderstanding in recent years between Europe and Israel. And Israel is justified in its concerns. For too long, Europe has put too much blame on Israel for lack of peace with the Palestinians. We, as Europeans, should have understood Israel's concerns sooner," said Frattini.
The European official also noted that "as friends, it was our duty to criticize when we felt criticism was needed, but we did it too often and unfairly. We asked you to take risks and often we didn’t provide you with assurances that you wouldn't stand alone if things went badly."
Frattini continued to say that, "Europe's attitude towards Israel is changing, and Europe better Today, Europe better understands the complexities of the Middle East landscape."
Commenting on the rising tide of Anti-Semitism throughout Europe, which has often led to marked tension between Israel and various European nations, Frattini maintained that "We are strongly fighting against Anti-Semitism in Europe. This kind of prejudice has no place in Europe today and never will. We will not tolerate Anti-Semitism and we take it very seriously."...
You can watch Frattini's speech on the Herzliya site, here. You may need to use IE. Make sure you're on Tuesday at the top. Click on Frattini's speech in the list on the left and click English below the video. He doesn't talk about the Gaza business in this speech, that was in a talk to reporters as noted above, but the rest referred to in the article and more is there on the video. Bolton is on there, as are many other interesting speakers.
Well, I doubt that Signore Frattini will be invited to any more important lunches after this. The man just does not seem to get it.