THE EUROPEAN Commission has distanced itself from remarks by European trade commissioner Karel de Gucht after he said it was not easy to enter “rational discussion” with Jews about the Middle East.
The European Jewish Congress, which represents Jewish communities, strongly criticised Mr de Gucht, saying his remarks amounted to “outrageous anti-Semitism”.
As the commission insisted Mr de Gucht was speaking in a personal capacity, he issued a statement saying he regretted the comments were interpreted in a sense he did not intend.
Discussing US-brokered direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians on Flemish radio on Thursday, Mr de Gucht pointed to a “clear hardening of positions internally in Israel” and said rational argument had little influence on moderate and religious Jews outside Israel.
The commissioner, a former foreign minister of Belgium, told an interviewer that the Jewish lobby on Capitol Hill should not be underestimated.
“That is the best-organised lobby; you shouldn’t underestimate the grip it has on American politics – no matter whether it’s Republicans or Democrats,” he said.
“And don’t underestimate either, the opinion – apart from the lobbying being done – of the average Jew outside Israel.
“There is indeed a belief – it’s difficult to describe it otherwise – among most Jews that they are right and a belief is something that’s difficult to counter with rational arguments.”
He went on: “And it’s not so much whether these are religious Jews or not. [Secular] Jews also share the same belief that they are right. So it is not easy to have, even with moderate Jews, a rational discussion about what is actually happening in the Middle East.”
The remarks came on the same day as Germany’s Bundesbank decided to remove a board member, Thilo Sarrazin, who decried Muslim immigration in a book and said in an interview that Jews had a particular genetic make-up.
European Jewish Congress president Dr Moshe Kantor swiftly called for a retraction from Mr de Gucht.
“This is part of a dangerous trend of incitement against Jews and Israel in Europe that needs to be stamped out immediately,” Dr Kantor said. “The libel of Jewish power is apparently acceptable at the highest levels of the European Union.”
In a statement yesterday, Mr de Gucht said he gave his personal point of view during the radio interview. However, he stopped short of the apology sought by Dr Kantor.
“I did not mean in any possible way to cause offence or stigmatise the Jewish community. I want to make clear that anti-Semitism has no place in today’s world and is fundamentally against our European values.”
A commission spokesman said Mr de Gucht did not speak for the EU executive on the Middle East.
It was for Mr de Gucht to respond to questions about his judgment in making his remarks, he added.
“Commissioners are first and foremost politicians. They of course express the views of the commission and sometimes they also express personal views. There is a difference between the two, which I made very clear with you. For the commission, these are personal comments.”
Asked whether it could be concluded from this response that commission chief José Manuel Barroso did not regard the comments as controversial, the spokesman said nothing other than what was said could be concluded from it.