Today, hatred of Israel is one of the most shared and prominent feelings in Europe. Using anti-Semitic terms to criticize Israel is common, normal and “politically correct.” Fighting for the “Palestinian cause” in the name of “peace” is the only fight that can bring together politicians from the left and the right. Any terrorist attack against Israel is almost unanimously described as a fruit of the “cycle of violence” and of “Israeli intransigence,” never mind that it is actually the Palestinians who historically have been intransigent. An Israeli response to a terrorist attack is immediately criticized by European diplomats as “disproportionate.” A Palestinian attack is never criticized at all.

When anti-Israeli groups rally to boycott Israel and violently invade stores selling Israeli products, the only condemnations to be heard are from Jewish organizations.

It is in this context that the recent EU decision to ban its members from dealing with Jewish communities and with any Jew living beyond “1967 borders” must be viewed.

European leaders who took the decision, and those who approved it, know perfectly well that there has never been a “1967 border,” only armistice lines drawn in 1949, but they act as if they did not know. European leaders know perfectly well how indefensible the “1967 borders” are for the Israeli army, but again they act as if they did not know.