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As the Middle East Peace Talks Hit Deadlock, Talk of Israel Joining the European Union Increases
OilPrice.com ^ | 02/02/2010 | Claude Salhani

Posted on 02/02/2010 5:57:44 PM PST by buttonman

The Middle East peace talks are at a deadlock. Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians to move ahead with the plan established by the so-called Quartet – the US., U.N., EU and Russia -- have faltered and come to a complete standstill. Continuing with this inertia will have a long-term negative effect on the future of the region both from a political point of view as well as from a business perspective. With the exception of a few risk-takers, what company or business executive would be willing to invest in the Middle East once the region plunges onto the abyss amid renewed violence?

And whenever trouble brews in the Middle East it tends to spill over into other parts of the world. The risk that Mideast violence could spread to nearby Europe might have been one of the reasons that pushed Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to say that Israel should be admitted into the European Union earlier this week. Berlusconi made the statement during an official state visit to Israel. Berlusconi, of course, is one of Israel’s strongest supporters.

Regardless of that the question remains does Israel belong in Europe? Full article at: Middle East Peace Talks


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Conspiracy; Military/Veterans; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: europeanunion; israel; middleeast; peacetalks

1 posted on 02/02/2010 5:57:44 PM PST by buttonman
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To: buttonman

hope they do and then let them join NATO too.

they have sports teams which play in Euro comps, they do a lot of trading with Europe and having them in NATO or Europe will only bring more pro’s than con’s


2 posted on 02/02/2010 6:08:46 PM PST by manc (WILL OBAMA EVER GO TO CHURCH ON A SUNDAY OR WILL HE LET THE MEDIA/THE LEFT BE FOOLED FOR EVER)
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To: buttonman

why would Israel want to be in the EU? While I can understand NATO might offer some advantages to them (providing the US isn;t the only country that would fulfill its obligations under NATO to them) I really don’t see what the EU membership has to offer


3 posted on 02/02/2010 6:59:13 PM PST by Svartalfiar
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; bigheadfred; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; ...

4 posted on 02/02/2010 7:48:02 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Happy New Year! Freedom is Priceless.)
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To: Svartalfiar
why would Israel want to be in the EU? While I can understand NATO might offer some advantages to them (providing the US isn;t the only country that would fulfill its obligations under NATO to them) I really don’t see what the EU membership has to offer

1.) Free trade: Israel's mix of products from high-tech goods to fruits is attractive to European customers. A common market means: no tariffs, no unnecessary paperwork and the stability of a common currency which should all benefit Israel's economy.

2. Freedom of movement: Already today many young Israelis apply for EU passports because a.) some European countries make it easy (E.g. if your great-grandparents came from Munich, German law says that you're German by blood and therefore entitled to citizenship) and b.)they want to study in Europe or spend their holidays in the US without having to apply for a visa. EU membership means that you are free to live in other EU countries, set up businesses there etc.

3.) Technology. While few EU countries are great powers in their own rights, when combined the EU is on the forefront of technology.

Two countries have aviation giants: The US (Boeing) and the Netherlands (EADS), there are three major defense industrial complexes: In the US, in Russia and in the EU.

The EU has a large number of fission reactors and fission research and boasts the construction of the two most advanced fusion experiments (ITER and Wendelstein 7-X).

Israel has been focusing on renewable energy lately (Israel is probably the only country that is small enough for electric cars to actually make a lot of sense), some of the biggest renewable energy players are in Europe.

The list goes on: In many ways, Israel and the EU are not only very similar to each other (very high human development / HDIs over 0.9), they also complement each other (product mix etc.).
5 posted on 02/03/2010 8:59:21 AM PST by wolf78 (Inflation is a form of taxation, too. Cranky Libertarian - equal opportunity offender.)
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To: Svartalfiar

That said, the article itself is a pretty useless propaganda piece.


6 posted on 02/03/2010 3:55:01 PM PST by wolf78 (Inflation is a form of taxation, too. Cranky Libertarian - equal opportunity offender.)
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