Communiqués
Open letter of 25 July 2025
Open letter from the D-IL Bureau to Knesset Member Ariel Kallner, Chair of the Knesset Delegation for Relations with the European Parliament, Brussels, 25 July 2025
Statement by delegation Chair Hildegard Bentele on the occasion of Israel's 77th Independence Day
77 Years of Israel - Mazal Tov, Chaverim!
Today, we celebrate the 77th Independence Day of the State of Israel - a day of joy, pride, and remembrance of a courageous new beginning after the Shoah.
As Chair of the European Parliament's Delegation for relations with Israel, I am deeply committed - both personally and politically - to further strengthening our close partnership: between people, in economic exchange, scientific cooperation, and cultural ties. The EU is Israel's most important trading partner, and our democracies share common values and face many of the same challenges.
Especially in difficult times, it becomes clear that our friendship is not a given - it is a commitment. A commitment to security, to dialogue, and to cooperation - today and in the future. True friends listen to one another, offer advice, and look out for each other. True friends preserve the trust on which their relationship is built. I wish for Israel, as a country and as a society, to find calm and peace again - and to never lose sight of its moral compass, in the words of the late Margot Friedländer: "Be human."
This week also marked the 50th anniversary of EU-Israel trade relations. Now more than ever, we should make full use of these diverse platforms for open and respectful dialogue.
Yom Ha'atzmaut sameach, Israel!
Constitutive meeting of the Delegation for relations with Israel - Statement by MEP Daniel Caspary, Chair of the Delegation
Monday 30 September 2024
Today I was elected Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Israel. It is an honour for me and I am confident that together with my colleagues we will live up to our responsibility and contribute to sustain the broad partnership between the EU and Israel, notably through our relations with the Knesset, that we need to revive in these troubled times.
Our mandate begins at a critical time in the region, with suffering and war, with hostages still detained by the terrorist organisation Hamas, one year after their horrific attacks against Israel. We have to use all our power, all our means of parliamentary diplomacy to support ceasefire efforts and security assurances, to strive for long-lasting peace and stability.
We will commit to enhance dialogue with our Israeli partners, to listen to them, to the Israeli civil society, to build on our partnership to support ongoing efforts to overcome the crisis in the region.
The EU is a firm, longstanding supporter of the Middle East Peace Process and of the two States solution. Our delegation will contribute to the efforts of relaunching this process, namely to the Peace Day initiative, in particular through our direct relation to the Knesset. We should all endeavour to contribute to this crucial objective, in the meetings of our delegation and with our Israeli counterparts.