The European Union has come up with a new policy on giving “funding, co-operation, and the granting of scholarships, research grants and prizes” to groups and individuals in the West Bank or East Jerusalem.
The guidelines, which were released on June 30 and take effect this Friday, say that any such agreements between EU countries and Israel must exclude the settlements.
An Israeli official commented: "We are not ready to sign on this clause in our agreements with the European Union. We can say this to the Europeans, but the result could be a halt to all co-operation in economics, science, culture, sports and academia. This would cause severe damage to Israel."
European Jewish Congress president Moshe Kantor has criticised the EU guidelines as being "a severe detachment from reality."
