Politics Israeli ministers face EU sanctions for the first time
For the first time, the EU is considering sanctions against members of the Israeli government. Chief diplomat Josep Borrell presented a proposal for sanctions against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels.
They are accused of human rights violations and incitement to hatred. Among other things, Ben-Gvir had recently spoken out in favour of stopping aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip in order to persuade the ruling terrorist organization Hamas to give up.
Finance Minister Smotrich expressed similar views. He described a possible blockade of aid supplies until the release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas as moral and justified, even if this meant the starvation of two million people in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, he conceded that the international community would not allow such a course of action.
According to an Israeli count, Hamas currently holds more than 100 hostages. However, at least a third of them are presumed dead. In total, Palestinian terrorists abducted more than 250 people from Israel to the coastal area on October 7 last year. Around 1,200 people were killed in the unprecedented terrorist attack. Israel's army responded with devastating attacks in Gaza in which, according to Palestinian figures, more than 40,000 people have already been killed.
Threat of entry bans
It is still unclear whether and, if so, when Borrell's proposal will be implemented. The background to this is that decisions on sanctions in the European Union must be taken unanimously and countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic and Hungary have so far been rather critical of calls for sanctions against Israel.
If the sanction plans are implemented, the people affected would no longer be allowed to enter the EU. In addition, any assets they may have in the EU would have to be frozen.
Diplomats in Brussels cite the ongoing efforts to de-escalate the conflict in the Middle East as an argument against sanctioning the ministers. Against this background, it could be counterproductive to jeopardize channels of communication with the Israeli government through sanctions, they say. So far, the EU has only imposed sanctions against some radical Israeli settlers and their structures. However, both Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are also supporters of the settlement policy in occupied territories in the West Bank, which the UN's highest court considers illegal.
Israel's foreign minister criticizes anti-Israeli elements
Israel sharply criticized Borrell's proposal. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz warned of possible anti-Israeli decisions before the meeting and criticized that these would be driven by "anti-Israeli elements". In the face of a threat to Israel from Iran and "its proxy terrorist organizations", the free world must stand by Israel and not turn against the country, he commented.
Borrell retorted on Thursday that some Israeli ministers had spread unacceptable hate messages against Palestinians and proposed things that clearly violated international law and constituted an invitation to commit war crimes. In his view, the EU should use its instruments without taboos to ensure respect for international humanitarian law.
Pressure on the EU is growing
Calls for the EU to change course in its dealings with Israel have recently become much louder. For example, the human rights organization Amnesty International called for tough European sanctions over Israel's settlement policy shortly before the EU foreign ministers' meeting.
In a letter to the participants, Amnesty International called for a comprehensive arms embargo and a ban on investments in certain Israeli companies and banks. The organization also recommended that the EU should ban trade in goods from Israeli settlements in occupied territories. East Jerusalem should also be included in this.
The human rights activists cite the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) opinion on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories published in July as the reason for their demands. In this report, the highest UN court takes the view that Israel's occupation is illegal and must be ended as quickly as possible.
Israel conquered and occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians claim these territories for their own state. Although Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip in 2005, it continued to control the land, air and sea borders. The Gaza war following the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023 has once again significantly exacerbated tensions.
