First Phone Call Between Netanyahu and Mogherini After Months of Tension in Relations

A phone conversation on Friday, February 12, between Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, is seen as the 'end' of a three-month tension in relations between Israel and the EU. According to Haaretz newspaper, this conversation marks the first contact between the Israeli Prime Minister and the highest-ranking EU official in recent times. Ms. Mogherini has invited Netanyahu to visit the EU headquarters in Brussels, and Israeli media have reported that this visit will take place within two weeks. In this context, the Israeli Foreign Ministry stated that Ms. Mogherini expressed solidarity with the people of Israel who have faced street violence in recent months. Haaretz reported that Netanyahu and Mogherini have 'agreed' to resume discussions between Israel and the EU regarding the Palestinian issue, from which Israel had recently sidelined the EU. Three months ago, the EU Council's decision to label goods produced in illegal settlements in occupied territories had provoked severe anger from Netanyahu's government. According to the EU Council's decision, products made in settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights are labeled so that buyers in European stores know these products are not produced within Israel's official borders. Netanyahu had described the EU's decision as 'evocative of the Nazi German government's practice of attaching a Jewish badge to the clothing of Jews and their businesses.' However, according to Haaretz, Netanyahu's government, understanding that a rupture in relations with the EU would be detrimental to Israel's interests, was waiting for a 'kind of compensation' from the EU. The report states that Israel viewed 'Federica Mogherini's commitment to stop EU initiatives against Israel' as 'a kind of compensation' and was willing to improve relations. Meanwhile, tensions between Israel and EU member states have not only been due to products made in illegal settlements. Statements by Margot Wallström, the Swedish Foreign Minister, who said that Israel should arrest and prosecute Palestinians involved in street attacks rather than killing them immediately, led the Israeli government to restrict the entry of Swedish officials into Israel and engage in a severe verbal conflict with the Swedish government. However, the Swedish Foreign Minister stated that an international body should investigate Israel's response to recent street violence. The Israeli government has recently also clashed with France over Paris's political initiative to hold an Israeli-Palestinian peace conference. Israel is also displeased with the strengthening of the BDS movement in Europe, which encourages boycotting, isolating, and divesting from Israel. Some European institutions, such as British academic centers, have imposed sanctions against Israel; meanwhile, the British government has described these sanctions as contrary to its official policy regarding Israel.