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Gideon Sa'ar recaps his trip to the European Union and tells the Post about the new reality in Europe.
By AMICHAI STEIN FEBRUARY 26, 2025 22:02 Updated: FEBRUARY 26, 2025 22:07
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar at the EU-Israel Association Council in Brussels, Belgium. February 24, 2025.
(photo credit: FOREIGN MINISTRY)
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar concluded on Wednesday a several-day visit to the European Union – with the sense that Israel and the EU have turned a new page in their relations.
“In the last European Parliament elections, the right-wing won, and it has become much friendlier toward Israel. The three women holding key positions in the EU – President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas, whom I met – all took a friendly approach toward us; certainly not a hostile one,” Sa’ar told The Jerusalem Post.
The minister arrived at the EU headquarters in Brussels for the EU-Israel Association Council – which met this week for the first time since 2012. “There are elements that are trying to harm EU-Israel relations due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, so the renewal of direct dialogue at the highest level is of great importance,” he explained.
Even the foreign ministers of Ireland and Spain, two countries that have been particularly critical towards Israel, attended the meeting. Sa’ar presented Israel’s position, which was followed by the European foreign ministers, each speaking in turn.
“Right now, Israel is in a honeymoon phase with Washington, but there is tension between Washington and Europe, so it was important for me to emphasize that Israel values its relations with Europe, and they have significant assets,” Sa’ar told the Post. He added that despite differences of opinion, Europe remains Israel’s largest trading partner, including via numerous initiatives and cooperations on security and counterterrorism issues.
From Europe to the Middle East
Sa’ar also discussed the Israel-Hamas War, currently paused by a ceasefire, emphasizing that to Hamas’s backer, Iran, time is of the essence, and maximum pressure must be applied to isolate and neutralize it as a threat.
He noted that the timing is unique because of Hezbollah’s downfall in Lebanon, its once-largest proxy, and that now is a critical time to capitalize on opportunities and speak the truth, as Israel sees it, concerning the new leadership in Syria, its other neighbor to the North. “It is important to present the new government as it is, not as some in Europe try to portray it, just to advance the return of refugees from Europe to Syria,” he explained.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz emphasized this week that Israel is demanding the full demilitarization of southern Damascus from the forces of the new Syrian regime. Sa’ar conveyed this to senior European officials: “Our interest in Syria is focused on the part closest to our border, which is southern Syria. As a country, we have experienced borders with Islamists in Gaza and Lebanon, and we’ve seen how this develops and ends – we want to avoid having another front like that.”
He told the Post that there are currently thousands of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters currently in Syria, seeking to instigate another war front in the Golan Heights against Israel. “Some of them are terrorists who were released from prisons during the Syrian revolution. Their presence on the ground is something we need to prevent – and we must stay vigilant about what is happening on the other side of the border,” he said.
Sa’ar’s meeting with the European officials came hand in hand with the revelation that Jerusalem has recently begun establishing ties with three right-wing parties in Europe, with whom it had no prior communication. Ministry officials have been in talks in recent weeks with several individuals from France’s National Front, Sweden’s Democrats, and Spain’s Vox party – while also engaging with the Jewish communities in those countries.
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“There was very extensive groundwork done in the ministry” on this issue, Sa’ar said, which began during the tenure of Katz when he headed the ministry. “This groundwork examined each of the right-wing parties in Europe based on two key parameters: the level of friendship and support for the State of Israel and the issue of antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and neo-Nazi phenomena,” he said.
Sa’ar explained that only when both conditions were met did Israel decide to change its approach to these parties. He noted that there are parties with antisemitic roots that are now working to distance antisemitic activists – which he said reflects a change that Israel can work with.
Regarding other parties – such as Germany’s AFD and Austria’s Freedom Party – with whom the ministry decided not to engage in dialogue, he told the Post, “We are not satisfied that all the parameters allowing for dialogue with them as a Foreign Ministry have been met.”
In other words, these parties still harbor antisemitic and anti-Israeli elements that prevent the renewal of relations. However, if things change, the decision made this week regarding the three right-wing parties opens the door for engagement with other parties in the future.
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