Published 06.46
The EU’s country of presidency, Ireland, is pushing for tougher measures regarding Israel’s actions in the West Bank, in Gaza and Lebanon.
The European Commission promises to come up with alternatives.
Ireland’s centre-right government has long stood out as one of the most anti-Israel in the EU, along with Spain and Luxembourg, among others.
The fact that they have now taken over as the country chairing the Council of Ministers does not make the Irish wrap up the criticism either.
– There have been shocking abuses, especially against children, women and innocent civilians, states Prime Minister Micheál Martin in a meeting with TT and other visiting EU correspondents in Cork.
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His foreign minister, Helen McEntee, is clear that she wants to see concrete proposals from the EU Commission on new sanctions and other measures in time for the EU’s next foreign ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg in a week’s time.
– Our credibility is at stake. Ireland has long urged the EU to take stronger action against what is a human-caused and preventable humanitarian disaster in Gaza, McEntee told EU correspondents in Dublin.
Ireland is one of the few EU countries that have imposed sanctions on the Israeli far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich on their own.
In order for the entire EU to do so, however, total agreement is required – which is highly unlikely at the moment, given the much more Israel-friendly governments in, for example, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.
“Deteriorating”
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, nevertheless promises that new proposals are on the way, at least because of Israel’s expanded settlements in the West Bank, which she calls “extremely unacceptable”.
– It undermines the future of the two-state solution, which we believe is the only sustainable path to lasting peace. The situation is clearly getting worse, says von der Leyen after a meeting with Micheál Martin.
EU sanctions against Israel
Last fall, the EU Commission proposed new measures against Israel due to the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
Among other things, it involves temporarily freezing parts of the trade rules in its cooperation agreement with Israel – which is estimated to entail an additional cost of EUR 227 million a year (just under SEK 2.5 billion).
They also want to introduce sanctions against Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the most extreme in the country’s government.
Sweden and France have recently also pushed for tougher trade measures against products from Israeli settlements, which have not yet been formally proposed by the EU Commission.
