Via Israpundit comes this juicy little interview of Jose Maira Aznar, the former (and best) Prime Minister of Spain:
Israel need not pay much attention to Europe, which is using its Middle East policy to separate itself from the US, has a tendency toward appeasement and is largely pro-Palestinian, former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar told The Jerusalem Post Monday."Europe likes appeasement very much; this is one of the most important differences between us and the States," Aznar said in an interview on the Bar-Ilan University campus. "Europeans don't like any problems. They prefer appeasement."
Exactly my diagnosis.
Aznar said Europe had no chance of independently impacting on the situation in the Middle East and would be wise to work closely with the US. "Do we Europeans have the capacity to change the situation and influence this area? The answer is no," he said.
Aznar said that European policy was "not favorable to Israel," and that different political leaders in Europe used the Middle East question as a way to establish a different identity from the US.
Like Duh.
"In Europe, Israel is not very popular, not only this government, all governments," he said. "Most Europeans support the Palestinian cause. Europeans sincerely wish for a peace agreement and support the peace process, but the reality is that the peace process is closed. At this moment I think that Europe should work closely with the States, because that is the only opportunity to change the region."
One major problem with the Roadmap is that the Palestinians want the benefits, but not fulfill the obligations. This is the sort of mentality that the Euros relate to: birds of a feather...
Asked if Israel should, as a result, pay attention to the US, but not necessarily to Europe, Aznar succinctly replied: "Certainly."
Israel, forget the Chinese and terminate all technology exchanges (especially involving American technology and know-how) with them. It may not bite you now, but it WILL bite you.
He said that the French and Dutch rejection of the EU constitution last week provided the EU a good opportunity to reform its polices and move away from the isolationist, anti-Americanism that he said defined much of its foreign policy.
Aznar's a good man, but does have his blind spots. But he can hope.
While Aznar, when in office, was considered one of Israel's closest friends in the EU, Spanish public opinion and the Spanish media are considered by some in the Foreign Ministry as among the most unfavorable in Europe.Asked to explain this phenomenon, Aznar said that "the situation is improving." He attributed the negative image of Israel in Spain to the fact that the countries did not establish diplomatic ties until 1986.
"It is very difficult to have a good image without diplomatic relations. It is true in general that the majority of Spain supports the Palestinians, but this position has changed over the last few years, and is not as strong as it was," he said.
Exactly what's been said at Israpundit: They've been losing the PR war for decades, and aren't near to turning it around. Maybe they should take a page from the Saudis and use a Madison Avenue Advertising agency.
Posted by ptah at June 7, 2005 01:48 PM