The delegation was organized by European Leadership Network (ELNET) and was led by Spanish MEP Antonio López-Isturíz White, a member of the European People’s Party (EPP) who chairs the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Israel.
‘’We need you, for the security of Europe, for your expertise in this fascinating time of new technology,” López-Isturíz White told President Herzog.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog welcomed the recent launch by the En uropean Commission of the first ever EU Strategy on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life and called on the European Parliament to act forcefully to combat hatred against Jews. He also called on more states to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
He made the call during a meeting Wednesday in Jerusalem with a delegation of eleven members of the European Parliament, representing four political groups and eight countries.
Herzog praised Israel and Europe’s shared intellectual and cultural heritage as a solid foundation for further cooperation. He held an open discussion with the MEPs about global issues and stressed Israel’s potential to help Europe face key challenges, including the climate crisis, saying: “Israel’s great contribution is the great new ideas that it can bring to the world,” the Israeli president said.
The delegation was organized by European Leadership Network (ELNET) and was led by Spanish MEP Antonio López-Isturíz White, a member of the European People’s Party (EPP) who chairs the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Israel.
‘’We need you, for the security of Europe, for your expertise in this fascinating time of new technology,” López-Isturíz White told President Herzog.
“We are two democracies under threat—different threats. You have the survival threat against Iran and its proxies, and we have threats raging from populism and regimes that undermine our democracy. There are things that we believe you need us—like the Horizon program, trade, and the fight against climate change,’’ he added.
The delegation of MEPs included also former Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, Assita Kanko (Belgium), Elena Yontcheva (Bulgaria), Isabel Benjumea Benjumea (Spain), Jens Gieseke (Germany), Manolis Kefalogiannis (Greece), Michael David Lega (Sweden), Ljudmila Novak (Slovenia), Andreas Schwab (Germany), Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez (Spain) and EPP Deputy Secretary General Christian Kremer.
During their visit, the MEPs also visited a Hezbollah tunnel at the Israel town of Zarit. The delegation flew by helicopter from Jerusalem to the border, where they were briefed by the Israel Defense Forces on the security situation in Lebanon.
The cross-border tunnel, plunging more than 80 meters below ground, was the largest and deepest of six passageways that Israel said members of the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group had dug as part of a plan to carry out attacks against soldiers and civilians.