EU chief Ursula von der Leyen faces mounting pressure from
MEPs to show leadership and take a tougher stance on Israel amid Gaza’s
humanitarian crisis.
In her yearly "state of the union" address to the European parliament on Wednesday, von der Leyen is anticipated to discuss the EU's position on the global scene while outlining her goals for the next year.
However, the German Christian Democrat is coming under increasing fire from the left and centrists who believe her commission needs to take a more aggressive stance against Benjamin Netanyahu's government and appears "disconnected" from the reality on the ground.
Amid severe divisions among its 27 member states, the EU has determined that Israel has violated its human rights duties and compiled a list of potential sanctions, but has refrained from taking any concrete action.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, told MEPs on Tuesday that Europe was not united over Gaza:
“Our options are clear and remain on the table, but member states disagree on how to get the Israeli government to change course … We cannot move as a union until member states share the same view on what to do.”
According to Kallas, since the EU and Israel inked a humanitarian aid agreement in July, there have been "some positive developments." According to her, 2,904 trucks entered Gaza between July 10th, when the agreement was announced, and September 1st, compared to none between March and July.
She said the arrangement had resulted in more petroleum entering the strip and the reopening of crossing points, but it was "not enough."
The deal has been exploited as "the excuse … to take no action against the government of Israel," according to Iratxe García Pérez, the Spanish leader of the Socialists in the European parliament.
“We are going to demand von der Leyen stop her silence, because we cannot be complicit when we have an Israel government assassinating so many tens of thousands of people,”
García Pérez said. “What we need is European leadership.”
Hilde Vautmans, a Belgian liberal MEP, said Europe risked losing its credibility.
“This famine is not a natural disaster; it is a political act, and Europe must respond with political courage …. If Europe continues to speak of values while refusing to act, we will lose our credibility and betray our founding promise: never again.”
The EU should suspend the trade portion of the EU-Israel association agreement and use its power "to prevent further obstacles to the two-state solution," including tougher sanctions against violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank and a ban on the sale of goods from illegal settlements, according to a resolution written by Vautmans, an ally of Kallas.
Although some left-wingers argue her language is not strong enough, it is uncertain if other parties, such as von der Leyen's European People's party and the Socialists, will support it when it is put to a vote on Thursday.
The EU executive appeared "disconnected," according to Green MEP co-leader Bas Eickhout, as it reiterated its support for a two-state solution.
“We need the commission to speak out on that and not every time just repeating ‘we are in favour of the two-state solution’. That feels like people are disconnected from what is happening there,”
he said.
He contrasted von der Leyen’s approach to Gaza with her stance on Ukraine, such as her push for the war-torn eastern European country to get EU candidate status, despite reservations from EU member states.
“If we would have been waiting until 27 member states were ready to accept the candidacy membership of Ukraine, we would probably still be talking now. Sometimes, you need to propose it to get things moving in the council [of EU member states]. And that is what we expect from this commission also on Gaza. It is about European leadership.”
In a separate letter to von der Leyen and Kallas, 116 former MEPs have called for the EU-Israel association agreement to be suspended. Former center-right and radical left politicians have signed, including former EU senior diplomat Josep Borrell, a former Socialist MEP and European Parliament president who has become a vocal opponent of the EU's policy toward Israel.
What specific measures could the EU take against Israel over Gaza?
This trade and cooperation agreement contains a human rights
clause that allows the EU to take appropriate actions if human rights
violations occur. This may include suspension of trade preferences, diplomatic
cooperation, or technical agreements.
The EU could impose visa bans, asset freezes, and travel bans on a number of Israeli ministers, military commanders, settlers, and Russian entities associated with settlements and military operations which are considered illegal under international law.
It would suspend our arms export and dual-use technology transfer to Israel to ensure renewal of arms exports do not continue building on military capacity to contribute to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It would introduce or extend the existing bans on the imports of products originated from the settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.