Israel and the European Union

A Documentary History

By (author) Sharon Pardo, Joel Peters

Hardback - £142.00

Publication date:

12 January 2012

Length of book:

580 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9780739148129

Israel's relations with the European Union stretch back to the early days of the European Community and the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. From that point onward, Israel and Europe have developed an increasingly strong network of political, economic, scientific, and cultural ties. These relations have, however, consisted of a number of conflicting trends. Indeed, even while the EU has become Israel's most important trading partner, the political relationship has been marked by disappointment, frustration, and, at times, even anger.
Israel and the European Union: A Documentary History, by Sharon Pardo and Joel Peters, traces the history of these complex relations by bringing together over two hundred documents in one volume. The documents contained in this book are divided into five time periods: i) 1957–1966, Israel Looks to Europe; ii) 1967–1979, Between War and Peace; iii) 1980–1991, From Venice to Madrid; iv) 1992–2003, From Oslo to Barcelona; and v) 2004–2011, A Renaissance Cut Short?. Each section is preceded by a short essay outlining the major themes of Israeli-European Relations during those years. The authors have not added any commentary to the documents themselves and instead have allowed the documents to speak for themselves.
The aim of this book is to offer a public record for future researchers and students of the dynamics of European-Israeli relations—as well as of Europe's relationship with the Middle East—over the past fifty years. Israel and the European Union is designed to serve as a companion volume to Pardo and Peters' Uneasy Neighbors: Israel and the European Union (Lexington Books, 2010).
While conducting research for their previous book, Uneasy Neighbors: Israel and the European Union (CH, Sep'10, 48-0528), Pardo (Ben-Gurion Univ., Israel) and Peters (Virginia Tech) "gathered several hundred documents and newspaper articles on the Israeli-European relationship." This book is an outgrowth of that research and meant to be a companion volume. It provides English translations for over 200 primary documents culled from newspaper articles, the Israel State Archives, the European Community Historical Archives, diaries and correspondence of leaders and diplomats, and documents from various Israeli and European research institutes. This volume will allow advanced students and scholars to gain a more exhaustive understanding of the often bumpy history of diplomatic and trade relations between Israel and the European Union from the latter's beginnings in 1957 until 2011. The book is divided into five sections by historical era: 1957-66, 1967-79, 1980-91, 1992-2003, and 2004-11. Introductory essays outlining each section help put the documents into historical and biographical context, and an extensive list of abbreviations is also included--a useful tool when working with diplomatic history and lingo. Summing Up: Recommended.