Strategic Assessment

Early 2009 saw the end of a sustained period of positive growth in Israel’s relations with the EU. Operation Cast Lead had some negative impact on EU-Israel relations. The heart of Europe’s efforts to block an upgrade in bilateral relations, however, is the EU policy tightly linking the progress in its relations with Israel to progress in the political process between Israel and its neighbors, and the reluctance of Israel’s new government to publicly declare support for the two-state solution.