Israeli scientists: Cutting ties with EU would seriously damage research
By Jonathan Lis, Yarden Skop and Eli Ashkenazi
Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.540100
Israeli scientists warn that cutting ties with the European Union could cause irreparable harm to Israeli research. The researchers were reacting to Economy Ministry Naftali Bennett’s call for the Israeli government to end all cooperation with the EU in response to new guidelines banning funding to Israeli entities with ties to West Bank settlements, East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights.
On Monday, National Security Council chairman Yaakov Amidror convened a meeting to discuss the implications of the new EU rules. The discussion, which took place at the level of ministry directors-general, was in preparation for a similar meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to hold in the coming days.
One of the topics discussed was whether Israel should join the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and development program, in which the economy, education and science ministries are all slated to participate beginning next year.
Bennett’s associates said that the opinion he expressed was his personal position, and that at the meeting with Netanyahu, the ministry’s professional opinion will be presented.
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