EU states can hold Israel accountable without consensus: Al Jazeera
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- EU foreign ministers are scheduled to meet July 13 at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, with the agenda covering Gaza, the West Bank, settlement trade, the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and possible sanctions on Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
- Germany and Italy, backed by several Eastern European states, have repeatedly blocked meaningful EU action on Israel's violations, while other member states have remained "largely paralysed," according to the author.
- A leaked 2017 legal memo advised the EU it had legal grounds to suspend its Association Agreement with Israel, and separate reporting cited in the piece shows Israel has damaged or destroyed more than 150 million euros ($172 million) in EU-funded infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank.
- EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas reportedly compared Israeli practices to apartheid in a closed meeting, prompting Israel's foreign minister to sever all contact with her; the European Commission responded by sending another commissioner to Israel to reassure officials that relations would remain intact.
- A June 2026 UN human rights body report described the deliberate targeting of Palestinian children in Palestine as amounting to genocide alongside crimes against humanity and war crimes.
- The International Court of Justice ruled in July 2024 that Israel's occupation is unlawful and that every state—not just Israel—is legally bound not to recognize or aid the occupation and to cooperate in ending it.
- Ireland holds the rotating EU presidency from July 1 to December 31, 2026, giving it institutional power to translate its stated support for Palestinian rights into concrete action.
Why it matters: The piece reframes EU inaction on Israel as a policy choice rather than a legal constraint, noting that national governments can unilaterally suspend bilateral cooperation, block arms exports, ban settlement trade, impose targeted sanctions, and support ICC warrants. With the July 13 Council meeting and Ireland's six-month presidency creating a concrete window, and over €150 million in EU-funded infrastructure already destroyed, the gap between the bloc's legal obligations and its practice is now measurable in taxpayer costs.
