EU promises funding won’t go to PA textbooks inciting against Israel

The European Union will make sure it is not funding Palestinian textbooks that incite against Israel, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi told Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Brussels on Tuesday.

“Israel does not oppose aid to the Palestinian Authority, but we will not allow a situation in which those funds indirectly fund terrorism or incitement against Israel,” Cohen said.

Várhelyi also promised the EU will fund additional research on incitement and antisemitism in Palestinian Authority textbooks, following a previous paper on the topic from 2019,  Cohen’s office said.

In addition, the senior EU official and foreign minister agreed to work together to strengthen and expand the Abraham Accords, forged between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020.

Israel and the EU also plan to work together on sweeping mines in Ukraine.

Cohen also met with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who backed a resolution passed in January calling on the European Council and member states to add the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to the EU terrorist list, banning financial activity related to the IRGC and its affiliates. Cohen and Metsola discussed ways to turn the resolution into action.

 “The Iranian regime threatens the Middle East and the Western world,” Cohen said. “European states understand the Iranian threat today more than ever and see eye-to-eye with Israel on the need to fight the terrorism that the Iranian regime leads and funds.”

Cohen also plans to meet with his EU counterpart, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

The foreign minister plans to meet with his EU counterpart, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

Looking for European support against Iran

Ahead of the trip, Cohen said that his priority is to secure the EU's support against Iran. Tehran's alliance with Moscow has bolstered Jerusalem's case in Brussels against the Islamic Republic's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Cohen plans to ask the EU to add Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to its list of terrorist organizations.

Tensions between Israel and the EU relating to the Palestinians have been high in recent months, with the Foreign Ministry barring Borrell from visiting Israel after he appeared to equate Israeli terror victims with Palestinians killed by the IDF and Hamas's refusal to recognize Israel's existence to coalition politicians opposing a two-state solution.

The EU also funds illegal Palestinian construction in Area C, under the IDF's civilian and military control.

Cohen is expected to participate in an event at the European Commission honoring the efforts of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine to save and aid Ukrainians in their war-torn country. Várhelyi and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola plan to attend, as well.

Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.