(Communicated by the Office of the Deputy Foreign Minister)

Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin met on Tuesday, July 23, 2013 with Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs Elmar Brok.

Deputy FM Elkin relayed to Mr. Brok that the decision of the European Union is liable to prevent future cooperation between Israel and Europe. "The decision of the EU is serious and problematic because it takes a stand with regard to borders before negotiations have begun, and the timing is therefore unfortunate. It is an assault on our capital, Jerusalem, that we cannot accept. You are trying not only to prevent European funding of research and ventures in Judea and Samaria, but are trying to tell us, Israel, how to distribute the funds that we invest, and this in unacceptable."

Deputy FM Elkin also conveyed to Mr. Brok a document showing that Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails for the planning and perpetration of acts of terror receive from the PA "salaries" four times higher than those paid to the Palestinian security forces. "This is a dangerous message to the younger generation, who understand that it is more lucrative to be a terrorist than a law enforcer. The Palestinian Authority is brazenly financing terrorism."

Elkin also discussed the growing phenomenon in Europe of marking goods produced in the territories, and explained that this action will primarily harm some 20,000 Palestinian families who will find themselves without work. "You are asking us to approve European projects and plants in Area C, but harming established Israeli industries in the area which provide livelihoods for tens of thousands of Palestinian families. This is simply senseless."

Deputy FM Elkin asked Committee Chairman Elmar Brok, considered a friend of Israel, to exert his influence to advance the common interests of Israel and Europe.