Israeli MKs sat down in Jordan this past week with Arab delegates at the environmentally-focused EuroMed conference, which took swipes at Israel and backed a Palestinian Authority state. Officially known as the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA), it concluded a conference Sunday with a call for a deadline on creating a new Arab state within Israel’s current borders. Jordan is currently its rotating president. Druze MK Majalli Whbee (Kadima) and MK Dr. Einat Wilf (Labor) were among Israelis who attended the conference, sitting with delegates from enemy states – Syria and Lebanon – as well as the secretary of the Arab League. Officially, EMPA’s aim is for parliamentary encouragement of Euro-Med partnership. EuroMed, which includes Israel, works against pollution while supporting solar energy and initiatives to combat disasters. However, this past week’s sixth conference was dedicated to criticizing Israel and promoting the PA as an independent state. “We are here to support promising projects for the Euro-Mediterranean region, but of course the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is casting the shadow over any initiative of the assembly,” said European Parliament MP Ivo Vajgl. Austrian MP Albrecht Konecny charged that Israeli security actions “destroyed” most of the projects funded by the European Union. The Egyptian delegate, noting last week's announcement in Israel of progress towards building 1,600 more housing units for Jews in Jerusalem, accused Israel of “provocative actions and escalations [that are] responsible for the derailment of the peace process.” Israeli Response MK Whbee did not relate to the harsh criticism except to say that “the discussions prove that cooperation is the best and only way to achieve a solution to the Arab-Israeli struggle.” However, he charged Egypt with hypocrisy by blockading Gaza while accusing Israel of doing the same. MK Wilf took the offensive, calling the critics of Israel a “gang” and charging that “Israelis have suffered a lot at the hands of Europeans and Arabs.”
