Ex-Israeli Military Officers Call EU’s Area C Policy ‘Hostile And Aggressive’
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by i24 News
Terracing and agricultural projects in Area C. Photo: Regavim.
i24 News – An Israeli organization consisting of more than 16,000 former military, security, and police officers called the revelation that the European Union is working on a Palestinian takeover of Area C of the West Bank “an act of blatant hostility and aggression.”
In an open letter sent Wednesday from the Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF) and addressed to Dimiter Tzantchev, head of the EU delegation to the State of Israel, the NGO slammed the EU for its confidential policy document revealed by media outlets on Tuesday.
The EU policy document gives an overview of the EU’s policy toward Area C, which is administered by Israel. The document shows that the EU is working with the Palestinian Authority on making Area C a part of a future Palestinian state. The EU criticizes Israeli policies of building in Area C, which the Israeli government calls by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria.
“According to our professional understanding of national security, the dominant terrain of Judea and Samaria in Area C is key strategic terrain that controls or can threaten most of the modern State of Israel’s infrastructure and strategic assets,” the letter stated. “The EU’s reported clandestine activity to undermine Israeli control in Area C and to advance illegal Palestinian development in those areas constitutes a clear and present threat to the security of the State of Israel, and is an act of blatant hostility and aggression.”
The letter was signed by 12 former military officers and includes the names of dozens more. The IDSF describes itself as a “Zionist, security-based movement” that includes senior officers from all branches of Israel’s armed forces, as well as researchers, academics, and Israeli citizens.
Another letter from a group of 40 Israeli lawmakers led by Likud party member Amichai Chikli was sent to the EU in protest of the policy document. In the letter, they claimed that the EU policy denies Jewish historical links and land rights to Area C. It then went on to demand that the EU cease “illegal construction activities” and other actions deemed hostile to Israeli interests in the West Bank.
