Anti-Israel activists in Europe have renewed their efforts to exclude Israel from the European Union's next research and development initiative, Israeli officials said.
Israel is part of the current R&D initiative, Horizon 2020.
The next program, dubbed FP9, will run from 2021 to 2027 and lays the foundation for Horizon Europe, an ambitious €100 billion ($117 billion) research and innovation program meant to succeed Horizon 2020, the eighth framework program.
Israel, a world-renowned innovation hub, has been the top dependent on these funds among non-EU member states.
But earlier this month, hundreds of European Parliament members received a letter signed by 154 groups, organizations and unions from 16 countries, urging the EU "to uphold its legal responsibilities and exclude Israeli military companies from EU framework programs."
The letter is titled "No EU Money to the Israeli Arms Industry."
"The EU has been funding security-industrial research for many years," it claims.
"European taxpayers' money is being channeled to military companies, among them many Israeli corporations, under the disguise of research and a promise that the technologies and techniques developed will be used solely for civilian purposes.
"One of the ways in which arms and military companies have gained access to EU funding is through the current EU Program for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020. This includes many Israeli military companies. Although the EU claims that research funds have gone only to projects with civilian applications, many of the projects approved are of dual-use nature serving military interests as well. Many others serve policies that curb or violate refugees' rights and militarize our societies.
"The EU's cooperation with Israeli military companies is proof that dual-use projects are inherently serving military purposes as well. Isaac Ben-Israel, chairman of the Israel Space Agency, put it bluntly, saying, 'Because we are a small country, if you build a small-satellite production line, say at IAI, it will be used for military and for commercial purposes.'
"There are many indications that the EU's 'border control' policies are built on concepts and technologies that violate human rights. … Well-documented reports show how Israeli companies have a unique selling strategy, capitalizing on the fact that Israeli technology is 'battle-proven' during illegal actions and policies of 'border control' and 'population control' in the context of occupation and colonization.
"Israeli military and homeland security companies, such as the Israel Aerospace Industries, have played a role in fortifying the borders of Bulgaria and Hungary, in the EU maritime surveillance programs, and in Frontex [the European Border and Coast Guard Agency] in general. The EU refuses to take into account the grave misconduct of companies as well as the origin and possible destination of such technology thereby violating its own rules and regulations."
The signatories urge European lawmakers, among other things, "to immediately exclude all Israeli military and security companies from the EU framework programs, given that an analysis of past projects has shown that their participation in these programs inherently involves EU support for the development and legitimization of and profiting from technology and methodology used by Israel in the context of war crimes and human rights violations."
By January 2017, Israel had invested some €1.37 billion ($1.6 billion) to be included in the program.
Israeli officials are concerned that if the pro-Palestinian activists have their way, Israel will lose billions of dollars in technological and scientific R&D grants.
