Iforty years ago, Europe showed the way in the Middle East. Meeting at the summit in Venice on June 12 and 13, 1980, the nine heads of state and government of the European Economic Community (EEC) took a stand in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Like they never did. Regardless of the reactions in Israel, the United States, the USSR or elsewhere. Europe existed in the Middle East, at least in principle.
In July 2020, Europe will be called upon again. Israel intends to unilaterally expand its territory, confronting the European Union (EU) with a real test of foreign policy – its baptism in this area. For the Twenty-Seven, it is about being faithful to the "spirit of Venice". It’s not guaranteed.
In the late 1970s, the United States sponsored peace between Egypt and Israel. But nothing progresses with the Palestinians, especially those of the territories occupied during the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967 – East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Americans softly support the UN line: a negotiation based on an Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories in exchange for peace. Neither the Israelis nor President Jimmy Carter want to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as an interlocutor. The PLO uses terrorism, but at the time it was the only one to embody the Palestinian national movement. As for the possibility of creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel, it has not yet been considered by anyone.
The declaration of the Nine in Venice will throw some taboos in the Grand Canal. The EEC – Germany, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands – reaffirms the inalienable right of the State of Israel to live in security. At the same time it defends the rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories "To self-determination". Finally, the Europeans insist on the necessity of the participation of the PLO in any negotiation.
Faced with a fundamental choice
It will take thirteen years for these principles to be accepted by all the parties to the conflict. Europe had led the way. Only one thing was missing from the Venice declaration: teeth – the military-diplomatic weight to weigh in the region. Over the years and a few bloody dramas – the division of the Palestinian national movement, the proliferation of Israeli settlements in the territories, in particular – these parameters of peace have been shattered. Benjamin Netanyahu could, in a few days, strike them an additional blow.
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