Netanyahu calls Janša courageous and the EU hypocritical

Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Janez Janša for blocking a joint European Union statement condemning Israel’s plans for settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, and used the message to attack the EU’s position.

“Thank you, Prime Minister Janša, for your courage and clarity amid the EU’s hypocrisy,” Netanyahu wrote on X. He cited Turkey’s occupation of northern Cyprus and contrasted it with what he described as the Jewish people’s historical right to build and live in the land of their ancestors.

The proposed EU statement would have condemned an Israeli government tender for 1,200 homes for Israeli settlers in the West Bank, as part of the disputed E1 project. EUobserver reported that Brussels had been preparing a statement by foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on behalf of all EU members.

After Slovenia objected, the European External Action Service published only a statement by Kallas, which carried a lower diplomatic status. Slovenia’s Foreign Ministry said a new statement by all 27 member states would not currently add value.

The decision drew criticism inside Slovenia. President Nataša Pirc Musar said the country should have supported a joint EU statement and called for a clear, united European response. Opposition parties sharply criticized the government led by Janša and the SDS, accusing it of defending Israeli interests at Slovenia’s expense.

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Thank you, Prime Minister Janša, for your courage and clarity amid the EU’s hypocrisy. The EU remains silent when Turkey, a NATO member, illegally occupies half of Cyprus, an EU member state. But when the Jewish people want to exercise their historical right to build and live in the homeland of their ancestors, the EU is outraged.