Appeal for a more even-handed Czech approach towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Appeal for a more even-handed Czech approach towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Czech version: Výzva k vyváženějšímu českému přístupu k izraelsko-palestinskému konfliktu

Dear Prime Minister Sobotka, dear Minister Zaorálek,

We are writing to you and your new government as Israelis who deeply care about the future of our country.

Over the past two decades, the Czech Republic has been a very loyal ally of Israel.

This stems from a long tradition dating back to the first Czechoslovak President Masaryk, a tradition recommenced after the Velvet Revolution of 1989.

In recent years, however, we have been saddened to witness expressions of unconditional support by the Czech Republic we consider detrimental to Israel’s interests.

Your country was the only EU member state that voted against the upgrade of the Palestinian UN status. President Zeman suggested moving the Czech embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, against a broad international consensus. And most recently, the Czech ambassador to Israel visited Ariel University, deep in the occupied West Bank. No other EU envoy has done so.

As Israelis, we are deeply grateful for your country’s friendship. But today, Israel needs friends who do not shy away from challenging our government’s policies. With all due respect, we believe the positions and actions mentioned above encourage our government to remain in denial and to persist in policies that endanger Israel’s future as a democracy and the homeland of the Jewish people.

Israel’s continued military occupation of the Palestinian territories has created a deeply undemocratic situation that is clearly incompatible with the values on which the Czech-Israeli friendship is based. The basic rights and freedoms of the Palestinians under occupation are being trampled on a daily basis, while Israeli settlers enjoy all the privileges.

To our dismay, our government continues the large-scale expansion of settlements, at the expense of the current US efforts to achieve a breakthrough in Israeli Palestinian peace talks. Since the signing of the Oslo peace accords twenty years ago, the number of Israeli settlers in the occupied territories has more than doubled.

We now face a situation in which the viability of the two-state solution to the conflict is in great danger. Without a two-state solution, the Palestinians will not be able to exercise their right of self-determination and Israel’s democratic character will continue to deteriorate.

The scenario we fear can be averted only if our best friends stand with Israel in its true interest, which is to end the occupation and achieve a lasting peace with our Palestinian and other Arab neighbours.

Under your new government, we hope to see the Czech Republic in the forefront of efforts to prevent Israel from going further down the wrong path. In Israel’s best interest, we call on you to adopt a more even-handed approach, which helps bring about dignity and freedom for both Israelis and the Palestinians. 

Yours sincerely,

Ilan Baruch

Former Ambassador to South Africa

Michael Benyair

Former Attorney General of the State of Israel

Avraham Burg

Former Speaker of the Knesset

Former Chairman of the Jewish Agency

Former Chairman of the World Zionist Organization

Naomi Chazan
Former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset
Former President of the New Israel Fund

Miki Kratsman

Head of the Photography Department at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design

Recipient of the Emet Prize in 2010

Alex Levac

Recipient of the Israel Prize in 2005

Ram Loevy

Professor Emeritus, Tel Aviv University

Recipient of the Israel Prize in 1993

Alon Liel

Former Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry

Former Ambassador to South Africa

Nurit Peled-Elhanan

Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Recipient of the Sakharov Prize in 2001

Yossi Sarid

Former Minister of Education

Former Minister of the Environment

David Dean Shulman

Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Recipient of the EMET Prize in 2010

Member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities

Tel Aviv, 1 April 2014