By Stan Goodenough
Feb 24, 2008
For its survival Israel turns, not to God, but to Europe.
This was the thrust of the top story in The Jerusalem Post Sunday: that Israel’s Foreign Ministry has taken a strategic decision to establish strong relations with the European Union and thereby develop a “third pillar” to help ensure the survival of the Jewish state.
Where secular Israelis have traditionally seen their country’s security supported by the twin pillars of a strong IDF and an unbreakable diplomatic relationship with the United States, the thinking is now that, with the fast-growing EU intent on contending with America for the position of superpower #1, it is important to plug Israel into the Continent too.
In exchange, Israel is allowing Europe to play a greater role in Israeli diplomatic and economic processes.
Historically, and to the present day, European countries have been almost exclusively pro-Arab and anti-Israel. After centuries of saturating antisemitism the soil of Europe is still permeated with prejudice - undiluted by either the pre-Holocaust Enlightenment or the post-Holocaust and post-communist transition to a more modern, politically-”corrected” society.
Still, secular-humanist politicians in Israel have grasped at the straws offered by “friendly” heads of European states like former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.