Here’s the crazy idea of the day. Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman thinks it’s a good idea:
Lieberman told the Post that he was drawn by the cultural and democratic link that exists between Israel and the EU, as well as the economic and security benefits that would be gained from such a union.
Given the strained and hostile relations Israel has with its neighbors, it would do better to position itself as a member of a group of nations with whom it more naturally belongs. That’s particularly true in light of the terrorist threat that equally threatens both Israel and Europe, he said.
He also defended his position in a blog entry he wrote for the Post earlier this month.
“Today’s world is dividing over values. On the one side is the free, democratic world, and on the other side is the radical, fundamentalist world.
“We might have disagreements with Europe and the international community over foreign policy, but we share the same values system that is the target of the radical, fundamentalist war against the West,” Lieberman wrote.
Moreover, Israel is physically very close to Europe, said Lieberman. At its nearest point, “The EU is only half-an-hour away from Israel,” Lieberman said.
There are numerous problems with the idea, as the article mentions:
- Israel may have to eliminate the Law of Return and accept any immigrants and workers from any other EU country, whether they are Jews or not;
- Israel, of course, is not in Europe;
- The foreign policies of many European countries is neutral or sometimes even anti-Israel; and
- Israel’s special situation as the single, Jewish state in the world would be compromised if its sovereignty would decrease; and
- Europe will likely become more Islamic in the medium– to long-term (see here and here), and Israel would probably not want to remain an EU member then.
However, there are a few advantages in the short– to medium-term:
- Having other allies in addition to the United States would be an good strategic move; and
- The EU forces its countries to undertake free-market economic reforms, and these would vastly improve Israel’s economy (which has been starting to grow more quickly) over time.
Still, this idea also has the potential to divide Israel’s Ashkenazi (from Eastern Europe), Sephardic (from Spain and Portugal) and Mizrahi (from the Middle East) Jews. Most Israeli Jews who are rich, powerful and influential are Ashkenazim whose think Israel should resemble a European country. Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews tend to be lower-class and think Israel’s culture should be similar to the Arab and Middle Eastern worlds.
Although these subgroups have mixed in recent years through intermarriage, there is still some class-and culture-based hostility between them. If Israel applied to join the EU, then that would be seen as an endorsement of the Eurocentric view of the Ashkenazim. I’m not sure the Mizrahim (and possibly the Sephardim) would accept that.
Although Lieberman’s idea is interesting, I doubt it will go anywhere. The EU, after all, needs to focus on its new members before it can even think about expanding again.
