Brussels – The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, decided to proceed with an assessment of Israel’s respect for human rights, the first step in a possible suspension of the association agreement in force between Brussels and Tel Aviv. The 27 EU foreign ministers will discuss this on Nov. 18, with or without the Israeli government.
The upcoming Foreign Affairs Council will be the last one chaired by Borrell. For this reason, the EU leader who has most actively sought to urge Israel to respect international law in the offensive in Gaza and Lebanon has decided to take action. In February, Spain and Ireland urged the High Representative to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement. In May, the 27 member states unanimously agreed to convene an Association Council to hold Tel Aviv to account for the ongoing carnage in Gaza. However, Israel effectively brushed aside the invitation, rejecting the human rights focus proposed by the EU for the summit.
Borrell changed strategy considering the new appeals from Pedro Sanchez and Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris. “I have proposed that we take responsibility for assessing the situation in the Foreign Affairs Council because we have sufficient evidence to discuss respect for humanitarian law,” the EU diplomacy chief announced on the sidelines of a meeting with ministers of the 27 member states held today (Oct. 14) in Luxembourg. According to Borrell, “Humanitarian law is below the rubble of Gaza.”
The recent attacks by the Israeli army against bases of UNIFIL the UN peace-keeping mission on the Israel-Lebanon border, has further exacerbated member countries’ irritation with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has been acting in the Middle East with total impunity for the past year, deaf to the warnings of top international bodies about its failure to respect humanitarian law. “In Lebanon, another red line has been dangerously crossed by the Israeli army,” Borrell warned again, reiterating the full support of all ministers for the UN mission – in which 16 member states have participated since 1979 – and the Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), on which Israel is passing a law to classify it as a terrorist organization, while EU ministers have asked the European Commission to make the next tranche of aid “immediately available.”
There have been a growing number of rifts between Brussels and Tel Aviv: the ministers confirmed “the urgency to advance our support to the Palestinian National Authority” and discussed the adoption of additional sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers and “those who enable their activities.” On the table is Borrell’s proposal to also take restrictive measures against two ministers in Netanyahu’s government, far-right Zionists Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The 27 member states also expressed full support for Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, who has become a target of Israeli propaganda and even a “persona non grata” on Israeli soil. “So, when some Israeli officials blame the Secretary-General Guterres for not withdrawing UNIFIL, they do not know, apparently, that this decision cannot be taken by the Secretary-General; it has to be decided by the Security Council,” Borrell stressed.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
