Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi ....

[Timber Loftis]

Originally posted by MagiK: Errr Why would you base an Israeli inclusion in the Eu on wether Turkey is in or not? Im a bit loston that point.

Hmmm.... I think it's a blatant Muslim vs. Jew thing. I don't think these two nations get along very well. That, I believe, was the point.

[johnny]

Originally posted by Iron_Ranger: Er, does Israel want to join the EU?

Who else would do business with them besides the EU and the US ? The region they're in certainly won't have anything to do with them, and i don't see that change in the near future. When you're dealing with people who's point of view is "the only good Israeli, is a dead Israeli", you KNOW business is going to be bad.

And further more.. they're already involved in all kinds of "European Issues", such as their athletes compete in European competitions, their footballteams represent Israel in UEFA competitions, and most recently, the Eurovision songcontest. They are competing in that for as long as i can remember.

And let's not forget that the majority of Israeli's originate from Europe.

[johnny]

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: quote: Originally posted by MagiK: Errr Why would you base an Israeli inclusion in the Eu on wether Turkey is in or not? Im a bit loston that point.

Hmmm.... I think it's a blatant Muslim vs. Jew thing. I don't think these two nations get along very well. That, I believe, was the point. [/QUOTE]Fyi, Israel and Turkey have a real good relationship. Turkey isn't THAT much of an Islamic state to hold a grudge against them like most countries in the middle east. That's one of the things that organisations like Al Qaeda hold against the Turks, their friendly attitude towards Israel.

[Davros]

I was going to post that in many things both cultural and sporting they participate as part of Europe and have done for many years. Johnny beat me to it though [img]smile.gif[/img] . There are many trade links between Isreal and the EU as well. Asia certianly poses more problems for them, so they have been steadily increasing their integration with the EU over the years.

So I am guessing the answer to IR's question would be YES.

[Ramon de Ramon y Ramon]

Originally posted by MagiK: Errr Why would you base an Israeli inclusion in the Eu on wether Turkey is in or not? Im a bit loston that point.

Firstly, it is a matter of justice: Turkey has been an associate member since the 1960s and was granted official candidate status only last year, which prompted a fierce controversy overwhat the cultural, political, economic and geographical prerequisites for a EU member ought to be. For instance, should the EU remain a club of countries belonging to the "Christian occident" as the former German chancellor Kohl always proclaimed, could Russia ever become a candidate and how about non-European countries bordering on the Mediterranean? THe EU, the (EU-)Europeans need to first make up their mind and agree upon all that. If they then decide to embrace a vision of the EU that allows a for somewhat broader definition of which countries are welcome as new members, there is no doubt in my mind that Turkey has earned the historic right to be the first one considered (provided they keep up democratizing and modernizing the country).

Secondly, I don't think it would be a good idea to accept Israel as a EU member without establishing closer ties between the EU and Israel's Arab neighbours (for which I see Turkey as a stepping stone, both culturally and geograhically). For one, that would destabilize the region (again) and I don't think it would be beneficial for the internal Israeli political development, either, because it would strenghten those who don't see a need for a real reconciliation and even eventually close cooperation with its neighbours. Yes, Israel, is a "Western" country, an established democracy and as such has politically - and to a certain extent also culturally - much more in common with Europe than its Arab neighbours, but that doesn't change the basic geographic reality that it is a part of the Middle East and needs to integrate itself there as much as possible.

So, basically, both Israel and the EU still have a lot of homework to do before Israel could and should be considered a candidate for EU membership.

[Stratos]

Originally posted by johnny: quote: Originally posted by Iron_Ranger: Er, does Israel want to join the EU?

Who else would do business with them besides the EU and the US ? The region they're in certainly won't have anything to do with them, and i don't see that change in the near future. When you're dealing with people who's point of view is "the only good Israeli, is a dead Israeli", you KNOW business is going to be bad.

And further more.. they're already involved in all kinds of "European Issues", such as their athletes compete in European competitions, their footballteams represent Israel in UEFA competitions, and most recently, the Eurovision songcontest. They are competing in that for as long as i can remember.

And let's not forget that the majority of Israeli's originate from Europe. [/QUOTE]I think you might have a point there.

Imagine if Israel was a member of the EU; any suicide bombing carried out by Palestinians would be a attack on a fellow European. They might get more support from other European countries that way, although the EU are quite clear on the fact that the want the conflict in Israel to end.

Besides they probably think that it would be a wise move to belong to one of the big players in international politics. Easier to make your voice heard that way. Israel have much to gain from a membership in the EU and if I´m not mistaken, the European countries are Israels biggest trade partners.

[khazadman]

Actually Timber, Israel has a defense agreement with Turkey.

Thanks for clearing that up Ramon...what I thought you ment was that if Turkey were in then ISrael would have to be out and vice versa and I got all confused [img]smile.gif[/img] What you posted makes absolute sense to me [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[Shaide]

Triple Mon (Ramon y Ramon de Ramon) wrote:
"Yes, Israel, is a "Western" country."
What do you want to mean?... western from where?, from EU?... Israel I think is an oriental country, like Japan, else Japan was Western too, from our point of view (EU). I dont like this term, because, China from USA is Western country and Europe's countries are oriental countries... but in some countries in South America said western countries while this countries are in western lands.... so confuse [img]smile.gif[/img]

Shaide

[Donut]

Originally posted by MagiK: Has proposed membership in the Eu for Israel [img]smile.gif[/img] How many of the other members will stand beside him?

Members of the EU have to meet certain standards of human rights. Obviously Israel would be precluded because of this.