The European Union can finally close ranks and present a solid and united front on its foreign policy regarding the conflict between Israel and Gaza. European Union foreign ministers have agreed on sanctions against Israeli individuals and settler organizations currently forcibly occupying the West Bank, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
According to Reuters, the sanctions package had been on the European foreign policy agenda for some time, but had been blocked for months by the previous Hungarian government, led by Viktor Orbán, who lost the election last month. This veto having been lifted, and in accordance with European legislation, “it is time to move from impasse to action”, in the words of the head of EU foreign policy, Kaja Kallas.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told l’X that the EU had “arbitrarily and politically chosen to impose sanctions on Israeli citizens and entities because of their political opinions and without any basis.”
“Equally scandalous is the unacceptable comparison that the European Union has decided to make between Israeli citizens and Hamas terrorists. This is a completely distorted moral equivalence,” he added.
European governments have expressed concern over increasing reports of settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
