Úvodem

The European Parliament's Delegation for relations with Israel (D-IL) is responsible for deepening the Parliament's contacts with Israel and with the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.

As one of the "diplomatic arms of the European Parliament", the Delegation for relations with Israel contributes to promote the values on which the European Union is founded, as well as to building renewed public trust. It builds on a long shared history, marked by growing interdependence and cooperation and frank and open dialogue.

Composition

The Delegation counts 18 full members and 18 substitute members.

The Members of the Delegation are nominated by the Parliament's political groups. The political balance of the delegation mirrors that of the Parliament as a whole. The Chair and Vice-Chairs are elected by the other members of the delegation, generally for a full parliamentary term.

Each of the following mechanisms guarantees the good functioning of the Delegation:

Ordinary meetings

The Delegation discusses developments in Israel and key issues concerning Israel, EU-Israel relations and regional matters, with an emphasis on EU policy and EU activities. In this way, D-IL also helps fulfill the Parliament's democratic scrutiny responsibilities.

D-IL holds regular meetings in Brussels and Strasbourg (usually once/month), including for preparations for meetings with Israeli counterparts or debriefings afterwards. D-IL meetings offer Delegation members the opportunity to discuss, with Israeli, EU and international interlocutors invited as speakers, developments in Israel and bilateral relations in the many fields covered by the Association Agreement - political, human rights, economic, research, security etc - as well as on Israel relations with countries in the region and the Middle East Peace Process.

Delegation meetings are usually public and web-streamed on the European Parliament's website.

Meetings are sometimes organized in conjunction with relevant European Parliament committees (AFET, DROI or INTA) and other standing Delegations (DMED, DMAS, DMAG, DPAL) when it comes to matters of shared interest or commun challenges in the region.

Inter-parliamentary meetings (IPMs)

IPMs are held, in principle, once a year, alternately between Israel and Brussels or Strasbourg.

The many inter-parliamentary meetings that the European Parliament has held with the Knesset demonstrate that the relationship between the two parliaments is one of the most dynamic and constant.

The IPMs are organised around specific themes pertaining to EU-Israel relations and also address developments in Israel and in the Middle East, as well as the Middle-East Peace Process.

The 46th Inter-Parliamentary Meeting between the European Parliament and the Knesset, held on 28 June 2023 in Brussels, was marked by the commitment to continue dialogue and enhance EU - Israel parliamentary relations.

The latest outgoing IPM (the official mission to Israel, organised by D-IL), was held in Jerusalem from 30 October - 1 November 2021. The rich programme and the quality of the meetings contributed to the fulfilment of the objectives:

· strengthen bilateral relations between the parliaments,

· assess the political, economic and social situation in the country and the reforms undertaken in these fields,

· assess the human rights situation on the ground,

· meet with representatives from civil society organizations and

· visit and assess EU funded projects.