A Few Minutes With Lars Faaborg-Andersen

MUTUAL THREAT “There is a growing realization in Europe that the kind of extremism and lack of tolerance that’s threatening Jews is also threatening non-Jewish Europeans in Europe” Faaborg-Andersen said

T he chareidi community’s central role in Israeli society becomes more apparent all the time says Lars Faaborg-Andersen a Denmark native and the EU ambassador to Israel. That’s one reason why he holds an annual news conference exclusively for the chareidi press. At the latest get-together held last week in Jerusalem’s King David Hotel the Ambassador fielded questions on anti-Semitism the ascent of the far-right in Europe EU funding for some NGOs that many Israelis find odious and of course Donald Trump.

President Trump is reassessing US support for the two-state solution. If he determines that the US no longer supports it would the EU follow suit?

The EU position remains that a two-state solution is the most realistic one to this endemic conflict that has been going on for the last 160 years. We don’t see much evidence that would support the idea that things would be better if we lumped everyone together between the river and the sea. If you go by experience that would be the best recipe for disaster. Now we’ve also said we would be open to anything the parties can agree to. Again my experience tells me the parties would not be able to agree on a one-state solution which would mean the disappearance of Israel as a Jewish state. Unless you want another kind of state where you have citizens with different rights which is hardly conceivable in the 21st century. If you saw Netanyahu’s face when Trump brought up the idea one-state two-state whatever you like I don’t think he was happy. So no we would not automatically follow any change in American policy.