EU policy on Israel is ‘absolutely crazy’: Netanyahu

Jerusalem, July 20 (IANS) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday slammed the EU policy on Israel as "absolutely crazy".

Netanyahu said the EU is the only association of countries in the world that conditions the relations with Israel, Xinhua reported.

EU has repeatedly condemned Israel's building of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and crackdown on civil society groups critical of the government.

Netanyahu commented that the EU was the only major power to attach "political" conditions to its relationship with Israel.

"This, he said, was damaging to the bloc's security and economic interests," BBC reported.

Netanyahu cited China, Russia and India as countries who do business with "innovation giant Israel" and "don't care about political issues."

Netanyahu made the remarks on the second of a three-day visit to Budapest, the first such trip by an Israeli leader since the fall of communism in 1989, said the report.