Today, Tuesday, Israel asked the European Union not to interfere in its internal affairs, at a time when protests against the government are increasingly noisy in Tel Aviv, and the West Bank is witnessing an unprecedented escalation since the beginning of the year.
This came during a telephone conversation held by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen with European Union foreign policy and security official Josep Borrell, according to a statement by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
The statement stated that Cohen demanded "the rejection of any attempt to interfere" in the internal political affairs of Israel.
He pointed out that the Israeli Foreign Minister refused in his telephone conversation to compare Borrell between "the Palestinian attacks and the Israeli victims and the army's actions against the Palestinian attackers."
"The European Union's interference in Israeli domestic politics and its financing of the Palestinians must stop," Cohen said, according to the text of the foreign ministry statement.
According to the statement, the Israeli minister referred to "the continuing imbalance in the European Union's positions towards Israel," calling on the Union to take steps "that would express the Europeans' understanding of the complex security situation in which Israel finds itself."
Cohen also stressed that "the EU is Israel's neighbor and strategic partner, and Israel recognizes Europe's vital interests in the Middle East," adding that the EU should adopt a different approach, "based on morals and values that Israel welcomes and helps develop constructive dialogue."
There was no immediate comment from the European Union on the statement of the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Yesterday, Monday, European representatives called on the occupation authorities to reverse decisions to evacuate Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, and the Old City of East Jerusalem.
settler crimes
In early March, a statement issued by Borrell, on behalf of the member states of the European Union, called for an end to Israeli settlement expansion, which is illegal under international law, and for ensuring accountability for the perpetrators of settler violence against the Palestinians.
On February 26, the town of Huwara, south of Nablus, witnessed unprecedented attacks by settlers, which resulted in the death of a Palestinian, the injury of dozens of others, and the burning and destruction of dozens of homes and cars, after two settlers were killed in a shooting near the town.
A delegation from the European Union and diplomats visited the town of Huwara earlier to examine the settlers' crimes and the military occupation measures against the residents, and called for accountability for those responsible for the crime against the Palestinians.
It is noteworthy that protests have been continuing in Israel for more than two months against a project to reform the judicial system.
And Arab and international media described the current government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu - who was sworn in on December 29 last year - as "the most right-wing in the history of Israel."
The death toll in the occupied West Bank rises to 84, including 15 children, a woman and a prisoner in the occupation prisons since the beginning of this year.