Israel’s contested identity and the Mediterranean

Article abstract:

Launched by the European Union in November 1995, the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) relies on a region-building approach in its attempts to stabilise the southern Mediterranean. It entails the promotion of common values, interests and a shared identification among the participating parties. This article discusses the implications of the EMP's 'Mediterranean identity' for Israel. In view of Israel's unsettled regional identity and high degree of domestic fragmentation, the 'Mediterranean option' touches upon domestically disputed questions. Israel cannot engage in being part of a Mediterranean region so long as it has not sorted out what kind of state and society it wants to be.