When Contestation Meets Euroscepticism: Israeli Contestation of EU Foreign Policy

This paper advances three arguments about Israel’s contestation of EU foreign policy and Israeli Euroscepticism. First, using Israel as a case study the paper describes Israel’s alliances with Eurosceptic political actors, claiming that while each side hopes to benefit from these alliances to advance particular interests, the attraction among the actors are based on ideological affinities that do not align with the norms informing EU policies. If these norms become more contested, it may make it more difficult to construct a ‘normative power’-based approach in EU foreign policy. Second, the paper reveals how third parties can use contestation and Euroscepticism as instruments for shaping EU foreign policy. Finally, the paper exposes how this strategy produces a political paradox. By allowing itself to become an instrument deployed by a third party, the contested and Eurosceptic EU member state also agrees to be pushed back into the fold of the EU apparatus, thus reconstituting itself as an internal actor, one which has stakes in the process and is willing to play by the rules of the game.