We are currently in the 30th year since the signing of the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements which formally began the Oslo Process.
These accords were supported and witnessed by many international actors, including the European Union.
Over the years, the Oslo Accords were used against Israel on countless occasions, whether to voice anger over the building of Israeli communities in Area C, something permitted under Oslo, or when Israel demolished illegal Palestinian buildings in the same area, also allowed under the Accords.
Prominent members of the international community constantly rail against Israel for all manner of mostly imagined infractions under the guise of not acting according to its commitments in signed agreements.
Nonetheless, this only appears to be one-way criticism. The Palestinian Authority is rarely criticized for its daily infractions of the Oslo Accords, in spirit and in deed.
Most significantly, one would be hard-pressed to show how the Palestinian position hasn’t regressed and hardened over the last three decades and an end to the conflict is more elusive than ever.
Most Israelis know that the Oslo Accords have been a resounding disaster for Israel. It did not stop the terrorism, nor did it bring the sides closer to peace.
Despite the early optimism which turned sour with unending terrorism and bloodshed, the massive unrequited compromises, the generous peace offers and the disengagement from major swathes of territory, while there is little enthusiasm for Oslo across the Israeli political spectrum, the Jewish State continues to play by the Oslo rules.
Remarkably, the Palestinians’ regular disregard for the Oslo rules has been backed and even buttressed by much of the international community, chiefly the European Union.
Funding Palestinian takeovers in parts of Area C
For many years, the EU and many of its member states have been illegitimately funding illegal Palestinian takeovers in parts of Area C, an area that the Oslo Accords specifically states as being under full Israeli control. Many of the structures built or coopted have been in strategic and security-related areas in line with the Fayyad Plan, whose aim was to create a de facto Palestinian state in Area C, in direct contradiction to the Oslo Accords.
In the past, European officials claimed that this was an ad hoc approach and not part of a long-term strategy, however, this lie was laid to rest thanks to a leaked EU document in June 2022 about a new program to protect Palestinian claims in Area C. The six-page document titled “European Joint Development Program for Area C,” says that the EU “aims at defending the right of Palestinians living in Area C and preserving Area C as part of a future Palestinian State in line with the Oslo Accords.”
The EU refused to confirm that they had been caught out in their lies and illegal activities but instead, have felt suitably emboldened in recent weeks.
IN REMARKABLY candid words a few days ago, EU diplomat Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, who represents the European Union in Judea and Samaria and Gaza, said during a visit to Samaria, “There is no such thing as Area B and C, it’s all Palestine.”
In other words, the Oslo Accords are dead and now Israel’s opponents can act as they see fit.
Obviously, other institutions and criteria created by Oslo, like the Palestinian Authority, its government, judiciary, increasingly armed police force, and all the rights the Palestinians enjoy because of the fruits of the Accords are sacrosanct and very much alive.
Only the half of the Oslo Accords that protects Israel’s rights has been ripped up. The Palestinians, who have abrogated the Accords from day one can continue to use them as a shield against the Jewish State.
Unfortunately, in allowing the Palestinian war against Jewish sovereignty in its indigenous and ancestral homeland to continue, these EU officials are ensuring more bloodshed, terrorism and violent rejectionism.
Emboldening and inciting the Palestinians against Israel’s legal and legitimate hold on Area C, which has hundreds of thousands of civilians living there and overlooks all of Israel’s major population centers, central business districts and airport, is a big step toward Palestinian victory.
It gives Palestinian leaders hope and succor that the over 100-year war of aggression against the Jewish State is closer to successful fruition.
Israel needs to take the open EU statements and actions as those aiding and abetting an enemy in a state of war. They are damaging to Israel’s security needs and harm its ability to seek victory and finally end the conflict for the good of both peoples.
Israel should make it clear to the EU that it will not accept this position and stress that it can no longer be seen as a trusted party for peace. Any further attempts it makes to create facts on the ground or ignore the basic rules of Oslo should be met with full diplomatic force.
If Israel is going to emerge victorious in the conflict, it must ensure that third parties do not act as part of the axis of violent rejectionism against it.
If it is going to have any chance of convincing the Palestinians to give up on their war against the Jewish State, Israel can not have foreign actors, especially those purporting to be its allies, while convincing the Palestinians to stand firm and helping them win the battle on the ground.
Either that, or Israel should say that because of the EU’s actions and statements, the Oslo Accords are null and void and it can then take all necessary steps to end the conflict the way conflicts have always historically ended, by using various military, economic and diplomatic tools to convince the enemy that it can not achieve its war aims.
Once the conflict is finally won, the situation can then be more peaceful, secure and prosperous for both Israelis and Palestinians.
Now, that is something the EU should get behind.
The writer is the director of the Middle East Forum-Israel office, which directs the Israel Victory Project.