Following extensive negotiations and pressure applied by right-wing parties, Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy (Yesh Atid) has authorized the holding of a conference organized by Yamina MK Amichai Chikli and Likud MK Kathrin Shitrit titled, “The European Union and extreme left-wing organizations as instigators of violence in Judea and Samaria.”
Levy had originally sought to delete mention of the European Union from the conference’s title, fearing that it could harm diplomatic relations between Israel and the EU.
Following Levy’s capitulation, Im Tirtzu head Matan Peleg said, “We congratulate Knesset members Shitrit and Chikli for their determination. For too long, the Knesset Speaker has chosen to run the Knesset as if it were the United Nations and not the sole parliament in the world that represents the Jewish People.
“The issue of the EU’s infiltration and the damage it inflicts on Israeli sovereignty, as well as the funding it provides to extremist groups is a critical one that must be addressed – and the right place to do so is in the Knesset. Next Monday, we will be there too, and we will be revealing new, detailed information regarding EU intervention in Israeli affairs. Thank you, MKs Shitrit and Chikli.”
The Ad Kan organization which focuses on exposing the EU’s interference in internal Israeli matters also welcomed Thursday’s news. “It is high time that the European Union stopped thinking of Israel as yet another colony. The British Mandate ended with the establishment of the State, and it is now time that the EU stopped its de facto support of Palestinian violence.
“The Israeli public expects the Knesset Speaker to represent the State of Israel with pride,” Ad Kan’s statement continued, “and to stop managing Knesset affairs based on his fears of how foreign countries might react. As Ben Gurion said: ‘Our future will not be based on ‘what will the non-Jews say,’ but rather on what the Jews do.’”
The Likud party also welcomed Levy’s decision, after lambasting him for his attempt to prevent the conference being held, calling it a “new low” in the coalition’s “trampling on democracy” and an illegitimate attempt to “censure political discourse.”