MK Shai warns of Israel-EU tension

Israel's relationship with the European Union is in danger, MK Nahman Shai (Kadima) said on Tuesday while attending the annual Europe Day event in Tel Aviv - a gathering meant to celebrate these relations. At the Mann Auditorium, Shai cited the statement a few weeks ago by European commissioner for external relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who warned that an upgrade in relations would not occur until the government declared its commitment to a two-state solution.

"I'm not pleased with the European stipulation because it mixes two separate issues," said Shai, best known for being the IDF spokesman during the Gulf War in 1991 and who later served as director-general of the United Jewish Communities' Israel office. "But that's how it is: The Europeans are themselves saying relations are in danger."

The event, which brought together hundreds of EU diplomats and their spouses, was also attended by other foreign diplomats, politicians and even the odd celebrity - including singer David Broza. However, he did not take to the stage. That honor was reserved for the musicians of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, who played works by Felix Mendelssohn.

Other envoys, including the European Union's ambassador to Israel, Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal, said relations were strong and "will become stronger." Cibrian-Uzal, a Spanish diplomat who delivered his speech in Hebrew, touched on the challenges in Israel-EU relations by telling listeners that his ulpan teacher told him that the great Jewish thinker Moses Mendelssohn once said that "it's is not easy being a Jew, but it's interesting." That statement, Cibrian-Uzal said, applied to his job as well.

Deputy foreign minister and former Nefesh B'Nefesh chairman, Danny Ayalon, said: "Minister Lieberman has held many productive meetings with European leaders and was warmly received. We know that many European leaders are receptive to our message and direction."

Arab Christian Uni

While most participants focused on EU-Israel relations, former Austrian ambassador to Israel Kurt Hengl had his own reason to celebrate. This week, Pope Benedict XVI blessed what people in the Austrian embassy call Hengl's pet project: Israel's first Christian university. For 13 years and during two terms as ambassador in Israel, Hengl pushed for the establishment of a Christian university in Ibillin near Shfaram. In April, the cabinet approved it - apparently ahead of the pope's visit. Besides funding, he lobbied Israeli politicians to buy into the idea of an Arab Christian university. In reality, the school has been running since 2003, but only as a private branch of the University of Indianapolis.

The official status of the institution - according to Raed Mualem, the institution's vice president - will help Israel retain more Christians, whose presence here has drastically fallen over the past decades.

Currently, 37 percent of the campus' students are Christians, and one third of the staff. Christians make up two percent of the general population in Israel, 85,000 of them Catholic. "The fact that Austria is a predominantly Catholic country helped get people involved back home," said Hengl.