By Nkiruka Nnorom with agency report
EUROPEAN Union Executive has called for a suspension of free trade with Israel and sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of European Commission, had already floated the proposal to suspend the trade parts of the EU-Israel association agreement last week as the commission faced intense pressure for greater action amid criticism that it was not using its economic leverage to influence the Israeli government.
There is, however, no certain majority from EU member states for the proposals outlined yesterday, because Germany, one of Israel’s key allies, has long been reluctant to take such steps.
The proposals include suspending Israel’s preferential access to the European market by reimposing tariffs on some goods, and freezing mutual benefits related to bidding for public contracts and the protection of intellectual property rights.
The commission also called for sanctions on Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank and 10 Hamas leaders.
The plans were presented as Israeli forces pressed ahead with their offensive in Gaza City, deepening a conflict that has killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.
The EU trade commissioner, Maroš Šefovi, said the proposal meant goods from Israel would be charged at duties equivalent to countries with no free-trade agreement with the bloc. “We regret having to take this step. However, we believe it is both appropriate and proportionate given the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” he said.
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, wrote on X that the European proposals were “morally and politically distorted, and it is to be hoped that they will not be adopted, as has been the case so far”.
The commission has been unable to secure the necessary majority for more modest plans to suspend EU research grants to Israeli organisations. The EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, suggested yesterday that the same divisions remained.
“Although we see that the public opinion in member states is really shifting because of the suffering in Gaza … on a political level … I think the political lines are very much in the place where they have been so far,” she said.
For the preferential trade or research grants suspensions to pass, Germany or Italy would have to lend their support. Both measures depend on finding a weighted majority of 15 out of 27 member states representing at least 65 per cent of the EU’s population.
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