How Israel's attack on Iran quickly changed the tune of recently critical allies in Europe

The Journal

5 hours ago

AFTER A FLEETING round of rare criticism from some of Israel's closest allies over its ongoing war against Gaza, normal service has resumed in the wake of Friday's Israeli attack against Iran.
With international pressure continuing to mount on Benjamin Netanyahu's government, even Israel's closest allies (apart from the United States) had begun expressing some guarded criticism of their actions in recent weeks.
Israel's sustained attack on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 55,000 people since October 2023 and its denial of the entry of humanitarian aid has left the entire population on the brink of famine, according to the UN.
The little aid that has been let into Gaza in recent weeks has been distributed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private entity backed by the US and Israel,
whose facilities have been the sites of massacres while people queued for desperately needed food
.
Israel's attack on Iran has had the effect of taking away attention from its war in Gaza and also galvanised support from those allies who had started to voice criticism.
The fresh conflict also comes at a time when the Netanyahu government is under intense pressure at home, as the prime minister faces a corruption trial and calls to investigate the failures that led to the Hamas attack of October 2023.
Many in Israel have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the conflict in order to maintain his own political survival.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, Netanyahu's main political rival, has praised the attacks on Iran.
Since Friday's attack and the retaliatory response from Iran, European leaders have once again returned to supporting 'Israel's right to defend itself' while accusing the Islamic Republic of developing nuclear weapons.
European allies of Israel have called for de-escalation and a diplomatic solution, while some have already beefed up their military presence in the Middle East.
Today, the head of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini said 'scores of people' had been killed and injured in the last few days in Gaza.
He said 'political will, leadership and courage are overdue and needed more than ever'.
Tragedies go on unabated while attention shifts elsewhere.'
#Gaza
: tragedies go on unabated while attention shifts elsewhere.
Scores of people have been killed & injured in the past days including of starving people trying to get some food from a lethal distribution system.
Restrictions on bringing in aid from the UN including
@UNRWA
…
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini)
June 16, 2025
'We will not stand by'
On 19 May, the United Kingdom, France and Canada
issued a joint statement
calling on Israel 'to stop its military operations in Gaza and immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter'.
'We will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government pursues these egregious actions,' the statement said.
'If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.'
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy described Israel's actions in Gaza as 'monstrous'.
Advertisement
Following that joint statement, Netanyahu said the three countries were 'on the wrong side of humanity' and 'the wrong side of history'.
The UK then
sanctioned two extremist members of Benjamin Netanyahu's government
– Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir – for 'repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities' in the occupied West Bank in Palestine.
On 26 May, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared he 'no longer understands' Israel's objectives in Gaza.
'The way in which the civilian population has been affected… can no longer be justified by a fight against Hamas terrorism,' he said.
Even the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whose staunch support for Israel has drawn frequent criticism from
Irish MEPs in particular
, denounced as 'abhorrent' and 'disproportionate' Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
In addition to the rhetorical shift among European powers, the bloc's foreign ministers
voted to review the EU-Israel agreement on trade and cooperation on 20 May.
At the time, the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said the move showed that member states 'see that the situation in Gaza is untenable, and what we want is to really help the people, and what we want is to unblock the humanitarian aid so that it will reach the people'.
Change of tune
When Israel launched a massive attack against Iran on Friday, targeting high-ranking military officials, nuclear facilities and residential neighbourhoods, Western leaders immediately rowed in behind the state they had been criticising just weeks before.
Israel's aggression against a persistent bête noire of Western states – Iran – appears to have got its allies back on side.
European leaders returned to the common refrain that 'Israel has a right to defend itself', despite it being Netanyahu's government that had launched the first attack.
Most have warned that Iran cannot be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, despite Iranian leaders denying they intend to do so.
Israeli leaders cast Iran, who support a constellation of armed groups opposed to Israel across the Middle East, as their country's greatest adversary and an existential threat to their allies in the West.
'When we fight Iran, we're fighting the most radical and murderous enemy of the United States of America,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech to the US Congress in July 2024.
'We're not only protecting ourselves. We're protecting you… Our enemies are your enemy, our fight is your fight, and our victory will be your victory.'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN in 2012
Alamy
Alamy
After a joint call from the leaders of the UK, France and Germany for a diplomatic solution on Friday, a Downing Street spokesperson said they 'reaffirmed Israel's right to self-defence, and agreed that a diplomatic resolution, rather than military action, was the way forward'.
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves also said 'Israel has a right to defend itself' and the UK was 'very concerned about Iran's nuclear ambitions'.
On Saturday, the UK said it was sending more fighter jets to the Middle East as 'contingency support'.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged 'restraint' but when asked whether he would rule out UK involvement in the conflict, he said: 'I'm not going to get in to that.'
Related Reads
Israel claims it now has 'aerial superiority' over Tehran as both sides continue strikes
Israel warns 'Tehran will burn' if Iran continues strikes after intense exchange of fire overnight
Shadow war: Iran's nuclear programme and Israel's attempts to destroy it
When Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel last year in response to an Israeli strike that killed Hamas' political leader while he was visiting Tehran, the US, UK and France assisted in shooting many of those projectiles down.
Also on Saturday,
Kaja Kallas said
: 'The EU reiterates its strong commitment to regional security, including the security of the State of Israel, and calls on all sides to abide by international law, show restraint and refrain from taking further steps which could lead to serious consequences such as potential radioactive release.'
Immediately after the attack on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron defended Israel's 'right to defend itself', adding that France had repeatedly condemned Iran's nuclear program.
The Czech Republic supported the strikes, with Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky viewing them as a 'reasonable reaction' to the threat of a nuclear bomb.
Yesterday, Ursula von der Leyen spoke to Netanyahu and said she 'underlined that Israel has the right to defend itself' and accused Iran of being 'the main source of regional instability'.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said today that 'Germany, France and England should have very clearly condemned the Zionist regime's crimes, especially against the Natanz nuclear facility', adding that European powers should focus on 'stopping the aggression' and holding Israel 'accountable'.
For decades, Israel has said Iran was on the cusp of developing nuclear weapons. In that time, the Iranian government has cooperated with inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
However, for the first time in over 20 years, the IAEA censured Iran last Thursday over its refusal to work with its inspectors.
Today, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told an emergency meeting of the agency that Israel's attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities have not led to a rise in radiation levels.
Grossi also said military escalation 'threatens lives, increases the chance of a radiological release, … delays indispensable work towards a diplomatic solution for the long-term assurance that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon'.
He also acknowledged 'the cooperation and exchange of information between the Iranian authorities and the IAEA'.
The US and Iran had been negotiating over a potential replacement for the deal struck between the two countries during the Obama administration, which President Donald Trump reneged on in 2018.
Since the Israeli attack last Friday, those negotiations look to be dead in the water despite Trump urging Tehran to 'make a deal' while also saying today that 'sometimes they have to fight it out'.
Today, Iran said its parliament
was preparing a bill
that would withdraw the country from the 1968 nuclear nonproliferation treaty.
Need more clarity and context on what is happening in the Middle East? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to finding good information online.
Visit Knowledge Bank
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Learn More
Support The Journal