Israel Outraged After EU Says Palestinians With Terror Ties Have Access to Funding

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli leaders are furious after a senior official in the European Union said in a letter that Palestinians who are affiliated with terror organizations are not automatically prohibited from participating in activities and programs funded by the EU.

The letter, dated March 30 to the Palestinian NGO Network, said that while the EU will not allow terror groups to benefit from EU-funded activities, individuals who are affiliated with terror may still benefit.

EU Representative to West Bank and Gaza Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff wrote in the letter, “it is understood that a natural person affiliated to, sympathizing with, or supporting any of the groups or entities mentioned in the EU restrictive lists is not excluded from benefitting from EU-funded activities, unless his/her exact name and surname (confirming his/her identity) corresponds to any of the natural persons on the EU restrictive lists.” 

Organizations mentioned in the EU restrictive lists are “persons, groups, and entities involved in terrorist acts." Several Palestinian terror groups – including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – are blacklisted by the EU. However, individual Palestinians are not mentioned by name and according to Burgsdorff, a Hamas affiliate can benefit from EU-funded programs.

Burgsdorff’s message was in response to protests by Palestinian NGOs arguing that the EU should remove the stipulation that EU aid should only go to groups that are not affiliated with terror organizations.

 Outraged by Burgsdorff’s letter, Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned for rebuke the EU’s ambassador to Israel, Emanuele Giaufret on Wednesday.

“We view this letter with great severity. This is in violation of all our agreements with the European Union, and we intend to send a strong message to its representatives about this,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson told The Times of Israel. 

A spokesperson for the EU Embassy to Israel told Israeli media that while the letter states that terror sympathizers can benefit from EU activities, their aid is carefully monitored and vetted.

“There is no legal impediment to individuals who are not named in the restrictive measures list to participate in EU funded activities, except for representatives of listed organizations,” a spokesperson for the EU Embassy to Israel stated. “Moreover, the EU has extremely strict monitoring and control mechanisms in place to make sure that all individuals involved in EU funded actions exclusively pursue the objectives and activities approved for EU funding. The EU does not fund any activity that is related directly or indirectly to violence or incitement.”